Not Quite Expected
by OneWhoSitsWithTheTurtles
Summary: Everything’s normal in Torchwood, or as normal as Torchwood can be, when the team picks up a possible threat. What they first think is nothing more than a common alien turns into something they weren’t quite expecting. T/O and J/?
1. Chapter 1

_**Not Quite Expected**_

**OneWhoSitsWithTheTurtles**

Story: Torchwood based. Not based around any specific episode or season.

Rating: T for Teen, though it might be upped later.

Relationships: Slight Jack/Gwen, slight Tosh/Owen, later Jack might be paired with someone else, I'm not entirely sure as to how it'll end up. Though this'll have romance, it won't be the priority, and I can't guarantee this'll end with the same relationships it starts with. If you don't like it then feel free to leave at any time.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Torchwood characters or ideas, etc, and I do not plan on ever making money out of this. It's all for good fun. The only character I really own is one of the main characters who has been wandering my mind asking (more like screaming) to be put down in a story for ages now.

Summary: Everything's normal in Torchwood (or as normal as Torchwood can be) when the team picks up a possible threat. What they first think is nothing more than a common alien turns into something they weren't quite expecting.

Hope you enjoy, this is my first Torchwood fan fiction. I can't promise I'll update all the time as I'm busy with my final year of high school and busy with university stuff, but I'll do my best to get it done. Also I'll try to keep the OOC down to as little as possible, we'll see how it goes. Feel free to review; they are honestly the highlights of my day.

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**Chapter 1**

"Would you shut off that damn beeping?" Owen glowered at Tosh from across the tops of the computer screens with his hands clamped over his ears. The alarm had been going off for nearly six hours now, on and off, and if it wasn't shut off soon he was sure he would murder someone.

"You'd think that after six hours of telling me to do that I would have if I could! So just sit down and shut up while I try to get to the manual shut off," Tosh shot back as her fingers flashed over the keyboards.

"You mean we've been listening to that beeping for hours and only now you're trying to get to the manual shut off?" Owen stormed over to the computers. He may not have been a computer genius but if worse came to worse he knew where the frying pan was. That would shut the damn computer up.

"I already tried the manual shut off, and the backup. Now I'm trying to access the primary coding for the backup manual shut off and…" she was distracted for a moment as she got through another layer of the coding. Looking up again, she noticed Owen returning with a frying pan in both hands, raised over his head, "drop the frying pan right now!"

"Not a chance, Tosh! Now step back and let the master do his work," he took a few steps towards the computers but was tackled to the floor from the side. The frying pan skidded away out of reach and Owen turned over to see who had so rudely interrupted his genius plans.

Ianto was already back on his feet and straightening his tie by the time Owen focused on him, and was off to make more coffee by the time Owen was on his feet again. He threw a glance towards where the frying pan had landed but was disappointed to see it snatched up again. Taking slow and deliberate steps towards Tosh in an attempt to intimidate her, he reached out towards the frying pan as she took hesitant steps back against the computer desk.

Owen wrapped his hand around the handle of the pan above where Tosh's hand was and pressed himself against her into the desk. Her eyes closed, as he knew they would, and while distracted he pulled the frying pan from her grasp. He danced out of reach and waved the pan around mockingly.

With Ianto nowhere to be seen and Tosh temporarily unfocused, Owen raised the frying pan over his head, about to bring it down when he heard the cog door clatter open. With a classic deer-caught-in-the-headlights expression, he froze and watched Jack hold the cog door open and close it once more once Gwen was inside. Jack met his eyes from across the room and quirked an eyebrow before sauntering over and removing the frying pan from his grasp.

Gwen returned a few minutes later with earplugs that had been conveniently missing during the hours Jack and Gwen had been gone. She handed a pair to Tosh and Owen, though it was unnecessary as the insistent beeping turned off ten minutes later. Everyone removed their earplugs with a sigh of relief and Ianto returned with coffee.

"So what was that about?" Jack inclined his head in the direction of the frying pan that was now resting on the floor.

"The damn alarm wouldn't shut off and Tosh and Ianto were being useless about turning it off. I was about to do it myself but I was stopped by force," he slumped back into a chair and sent a glare at each Torchwood team member in turn.

"It wasn't our fault! Something was altered in the alarm system so it wouldn't shut off unless what originally set it off disappeared. Unfortunately, the source decided to stay for a while," Tosh defended herself, trying to hide her hurt over Owen's accusations.

"Tosh and Ianto get on that; we don't want to have to listen to that alarm for hours on end every time something comes through the Rift. Once the alarm is fixed we'll try to figure out what set it off in the first place," Jack said while fiddling with his coffee mug.

"No luck then?" Ianto asked from his seat on the edge of the couch.

"None. Gwen and I went to each place with Rift activity that was setting off the alarm but there was nothing around when we got there and no traces that anything had been there at all," the Captain looked at each member of his small team, eyes lingering on Gwen last.

Blushing slight, Gwen tried to ignore Jack's eyes and continued, "We'll have to check the scanner and pinpoint the exact locations and how long the source was there. The places we checked out were rather unusual for aliens to be active in: a shopping mall, a park, an ice cream parlor, and two bars."

"Owen you check on Janet to see if she's acting differently, see if she might be sensing any new weevils about. Everyone else try to get that alarm fixed, the locations mapped and get the source possibilities narrowed down," Jack called out as he made his way back towards his office.

He looked out of one of the windows down into the Hub for a few moments, watching Owen move towards the lower cells and the others huddle around the computers in order to attempt to make some progress. Smiling into his coffee mug, Jack turned back towards his desk. He pulled on his ear in an attempt to stop the ringing from the alarm that had been echoed through his comm. as he and Gwen traveled the city in hopes of finding the source of the alarms.

Whatever it had been was going to be trouble if it didn't slip back through the Rift on its own. Grimacing at the thought, he set his coffee down on the desk and moved to the vaults. After a short time of fiddling through a multitude of locks he sat down with a small binder-sized screen in his hands. He swept the random items littering his desk aside and set the alien artifact down carefully before turning it on.

A low hum, one that was much more pleasant to hear in the background than the beeping of the alarm filled the office. Biting his lip in concentration, he pressed a few buttons until an aerial view of Cardiff was displayed on the screen. Next he placed his comm. on the top right corner of the screen. A few moments passed until a blue-ish light twisted its way through the map of Cardiff; the Rift. When they had found this alien technology it had originally been very useful for tracking things that had recently passed through the Rift. But after too much use in a short time Tosh had become unable to part from it. Deeming it dangerous despite its usefulness, Jack had locked it away.

Now he looked down at the map of Cardiff and the pale blue light that twisted through it. What he noticed after that were the streaks of the same blue mist spread around the city. The screen usually showed a trail of the object or alien that had gone through the Rift, Jack assumed incase the aliens of this technology lost something by accident while traveling, but the smudges on the screen weren't showing a trail at all.

It was as if whatever came through the Rift kept passing back through the Rift and ending up in different places for short amounts of time before moving to a different place. This could become a big problem as it would weaken the Rift if it was overused, making it easier for more things to fall through, but it would also make it damn challenging to catch whatever this thing was.

He transferred the image on the screen to his Vortex Manipulator temporarily before turning off the screen and returning it to its home in the vaults; he didn't want it running any longer than it needed to be. After taking a few minutes break to sip his coffee thoughtfully, he returned back downstairs to find the other four squished around the main computer yelling instructions to each other, effectively drowning each other, and any useful suggestions, out.

Jack sat back on the couch and watched in amusement since none of them had noticed his return. Just when the yelling and bickering was growing tiresome and he got up to swat them all on the back of the head, Tosh gave a yell of triumph and navigated through the new screen that was presently displayed. He heard Owen and Ianto muttering back and forth about who had been the one to come up with the working idea but noticed Gwen pushing away her chair.

He smiled up at her when she turned and moved over on the couch for her to join him, which she obviously did. They sat in compatible silence watching the others until the computers had been fully restored and then chatted quietly while Tosh uploaded all the information that was now accessible and the other two males left the computer to go about their business.

After such a hectic morning things were winding down nicely, which hadn't happened in quite a while with all the Rift activity they had been picking up. In late afternoon, Jack called everyone to the meeting room from their respective corners of the Hub. Tosh plugged in her laptop while the others huddled around the table. Finally there was a chime indicating a successful connection and Tosh began explaining her findings.

"The only thing that could have scrambled the computers was whatever came through the Rift today, though we still don't know what that is or how it did so. I've put up some additional firewalls and believe there won't be any more problems with the alarm," she began.

"Was anything corrupted or tampered with when the computers were infected?" Jack asked after giving a quick glance to the laptop in front of him.

"Not that I can find which is really odd. I mean, why hack into the computers if you don't want to destroy anything? The only thing it did was alert us of the source more…insistently, which couldn't have helped whatever the thing was in the end." Everyone nodded their heads and Owen snickered something under his breath. "Anyways, I have locks on the exact locations that they showed up and how long they were there, but it's either a lot of them coming through at different times or one keeps disappearing and reappearing. Either way, it trips the alarm and keeps it on for the entire time it's traceable."

Tosh clicked the mouse a few times and a map with red dots filled the screen on the wall. "Now, from 7:54am to 8:03am the alien or aliens were at the Little Almond Bar on Cheshire Street. I'm assuming since the bar was closed at this time it just moved around and left. Next time it set off the alarm was at 8:25am and stayed around until 10:17am in the Lakeshore Park."

As she read out the times and places, black writing filled the screen with the same information next to the red dots in order. "After that the alarms were quiet until 11:42am and only stayed on until 12:02pm, when the thing was at Mr. Macer's Ice Cream Parlor on the corner of Mayflower and Maple."

"Ah, I remember that hour of silence," Owen chimed in while Tosh was taking a breath. He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes, a look of peace crossing his face as if he were remembering a long past holiday at the beach.

"Yes…well it returned soon after and was at the Dragon's Keep, a local bar in the south part of town that's meant for people taking off lunch from work. More like a restaurant bar than a club bar so it was open when it went. It stayed there from 12:13pm to 1:32pm, reappeared at the Medire Shopping Mall at 1:47pm and disappeared until now at 2:21pm," Tosh concluded, the final bit of information added to the screen.

"So are there any connections between times or locations?" Ianto asked from his seat, squinting at the map in an attempt at finding a pattern. Gwen was doing likewise, pulling out and dusting off her old police knowledge.

"None that I or the computer can weed out," Tosh shook her head, "and that's all the information we have."

"Not quite," Jack said as he stood up and moved towards the laptop. After connecting his Vortex Manipulator he pulled up the second map on the screen.

"Jack! You used that alien screen, didn't you?" Gwen asked accusingly from across the table.

"Not to worry, Gwen, I didn't use it for long. I was careful," he met everyone's eye to confirm this before turning back the screen. "Now, as we remember from before this line going through Cardiff is the Rift. The other smudges are the same places that the computers picked up but it shows that it didn't travel around a lot. This could mean that it might be able to use the Rift to travel around," he explained to the team.

There was silence for a few moments as everyone grasped the concept. Gwen was the first one to speak, "Well that can't be good."

"You think?" Owen shot at her.

"So what are we going to do, Jack?" Tosh fidgeted with her shirt while watching the Captain for orders.

"Our best bet is to wait for the thing to reappear and then go after it before it disappears again. First thing we need to do once we find it is to capture it and block off its link to the Rift before it rips a new hole in it, which is the last thing we need. So, everyone grab your sleeping bags and get ready for a campout, we could be here a while," Jack stood up with his hands on the desk.

Before he could say anything else, Ianto finally looked away from the screen, "Where was the sixth place the thing turned up again?"

"There were only five places it showed up; the bars, the ice cream parlor, the park and the shopping mall," Gwen listed off the places she and Jack had visited that day as the new locations continued to spring up.

"Well there's a sixth smudge on the map now only it's making a line," he said matter-of-factly and pointed at the screen behind everyone. They turned as one to see what Ianto was talking about. There, near the bottom corner of the map was a brighter blue smudge, the brightness indicating newer connection with the Rift than the other smudges that had begun to fade throughout the day. Also, instead of there being a small circle of area similar to the others, it was turning into a line, showing a direct trace of the pathway the thing was taking. Jack also noted that the blue colour faded quickly as the thing moved, meaning that its connection to the Rift was waning and was apparently unable to travel through it anymore.

"Okay everyone, saddle up. We need to get to that thing before it gets to anyone else and before it figures out how to reconnect with the Rift and disappears on us. We can hope that the connection is permanently going since it didn't set off the alarm, which only goes off when things related to the Rift shows up, but that's calling for a lot more luck than we usually have. I want everyone's best work; we need to be fast and efficient!" Jack yelled as the others nodded and headed for the door to grab their equipment.

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**So what did you think? Was it okay for my first Torchwood fanfiction? Review please, it doesn't take long and it makes me all happy and more likely to write more :-P Chapter 2 might be up later today or tomorrow. Hopefully.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks: kateg123, Itchigo, and GossipGirl17 for the reviews :-) I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint. **

**Disclaimer: Please see chapter 1. **

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**Chapter 2**

Gwen slipped into the seat next to Jack while Owen took a seat where Tosh normally sat in order to watch the various screens surrounding it. The SUV roared to life and swung onto the street, knocking everything askew in the process as Jack quickly navigated through the crowded streets. This was the time when everyone was getting off work and heading home so he had to take a lot of detours to avoid being caught in a traffic jam. 

"Tosh, you got those maps for me?" Owen spoke into the mic as he powered up the computers. 

"Sending now, should appear on screen right…about…" there was a solitary beep and the screens filled up with maps of Cardiff. "There. The map showing Rift connections is useless now as the thing isn't connected anymore, but the primary map of Cardiff will show the red points from before and also the line it's going now," Tosh explained slowly.

"It's not connected anymore?" Jack asked his mic before he had to return his attention to the streets.

"Not that we can see. Either that alien screen has stopped working or it's not connected to the Rift anymore," Ianto said with a sigh.

"Which could either be really good or really bad news," Jack said with a grimace. Gwen and Owen looked up at him in confusion and there was silence on the other end of the comms back at the Hub. 

"How do you figure?" Jack met Gwen's questioning eyes.

"Well we don't know if the thing lost the connection or just shut it off on its own. If it's the second option then it has a lot more control of the Rift than is good for anyone. Even if it was the first option, the computers won't pick it up for too much longer as it only picks up newer Rift activity," Jack explained slowly.

"So basically we're screwed either way?" Owen rolled his eyes from the back seat. 

Choosing to ignore him, Jack spoke into his mic once more, "Tosh, Ianto, we need exact co-ordinates right now. We're getting close to the red line now but it's still moving."

"Trying…" All they heard was the sound of fingers on keyboard for a few moments before Tosh returned, "Okay, it appeared on Chester and started heading eastwards."

"On it," Jack swerved through a couple small roads and turned onto Chester, ignoring rude car horns on the way. His crystal eyes scanned the streets as they drove past, though he didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. 

"Keep heading that direction, you're closing in…Hey!" Tosh and Owen exclaimed at the same time, though Owen decided to lace it with a couple of swears afterwards. 

"What is it?" Gwen turned in her seat to look back at Owen.

"The computers just blanked, useless piece of crap," he muttered as he started checking wirings. 

"Make sure you don't damage anything Owen--"

"Oh keep quiet Tosh, I won't," he snarled into the mic. Silence reigned on the Hub microphones. Jack and Gwen looked at him from the front of the car, "What?" he yelled defensively. There was an awkward silence in the SUV as Owen distractedly tried to fix the computers and Gwen and Jack scanned the passing streets. 

"Computers back up," Ianto spoke and Owen confirmed this from the back seat. 

"Okay, tell me what you got. Tosh, you there?" Jack asked the mic, concern lacing his voice.

They heard her clear her throat before she spoke, "Yeah, I'm here. Just give the map a moment to refresh…You passed it."

"What?"

"You're five blocks too far east; it stopped in a building called the Caramel Apple. Normal club bar, and a generally busy one, but there are no disturbances listed and no one calling the police," Tosh explained.

The SUV was turned around and started heading westwards, but this time more slowly, "So you're saying that either everyone is dead or no one noticed it?" Jack read the signs that passed by, looking for the bar or people screaming and running from that general direction. 

"They must all be pretty drunk to not notice an alien ordering a drink next to them," Owen rolled his eyes.

"Some species have camouflaging abilities; you know that," the SUV was stopped at the end of the block where the Caramel Apple was situated. "Okay everyone, stay alert. We don't know what we're dealing with, or even what we're looking for." The others pulled out their guns but Jack shook his head, "We don't want to scare it off before we even see it. Keep them within reach but out of sight."

Guns hidden away, the three walked down the sidewalk and into the smoky club with a wooden sign proclaiming 'Caramel Apple' above the door, swinging in the breeze. Their ears were assaulted with a steady line of music and their heartbeats altered to be in time with the pulse of the base. Though it wasn't very late it was already crowded with young adults. 

"Stick to the walls," Jack muttered in Gwen's and Owen's ear before slipping through the throng of people towards the bar. They gave each other a look before splitting up and taking separate walls. It was difficult to see anything with the lights flashing and all of the bodies pressed up against each other, moving in time to the music. 

No one paid much attention to Gwen or Owen, instead choosing to talk with their friends at tables or watch the people dancing in the center of the loud room, but Jack drew a number of eyes. His 40's attire stood out among the thin fabrics and revealing clothing, but he was able to pass through without being harassed by flashing his heart-melting smile to those who got too close. 

He stepped onto the raised platform where the bar was situated and swept the room quickly while leaning against the polished wood. He noted Gwen weaving through the crowds near the back, but Owen was lost somewhere in the mass of dancers. Nothing seemed out of place from what he could see. When the bartender walked over towards him, Jack couldn't help but rake his eyes over the man. The tight shirt and jeans did nothing to hide the fact that the man must spend every spare moment at the gym, and with short black hair and mischievous eyes, it took Jack a moment to return to his senses. 

He flashed his best smile, and leaned forward across the top of the bar to get closer to the man, "Hello there. I was wondering if you knew the regulars of this bar."

"Well I'm here most nights so I have an eye for the regulars, yes. The bar is frequented by regulars, and new people only show up when brought by a regular. Is there something I could…" his eyes swept Jack quickly, "help you with?"

"Hmm, maybe later," he said with a wink, "but for now I was wondering if you could tell me who hasn't been here before. Anyone who came in tonight without a regular?"

"I haven't seen everyone who came in tonight, no one has ordered a drink that I don't know at least. Let me ask Sean, he knows the regulars near as well as I do. While you wait, why not have a drink? My treat," the bartender smiled before passing Jack a cocktail. 

Smiling into his drink, Jack sipped it while watching the crowds again. Suddenly Gwen was beside him, "Looks like you were having fun." Jack laughed and looked at her, but his smile dropped when he saw her face. 

"Honestly it's the easiest way to get information, I wasn't going to do anything with him," he said quickly. 

"Of course you weren't," she said and turned to watch the dancers from a stool beside him. Jack distractedly sipped the blue drink until the bartender returned a few minutes later. 

"Well there are only four people Sean admitted tonight that weren't with someone he knew, and you were a group of three so I guess your search will only be semi-difficult. Keep in mind you still have to find her in this mess," he nodded his head towards the dance floor that had, if it was possible, become full of more people than before. 

"Okay, what did she look like?" Jack moved closer to hear the man over the noise and didn't fail to notice Gwen's hardened look. 

"Well Sean describes her as average height, maybe five and a half feet, long black hair as straight as a pin," the bartender described.

"That's it? That could be half the girls in here!" Jack's shoulders slumped as he let out a sigh. 

"Sorry, mate. Sean said she came in pretty fast. The only thing he really noticed was her eyes. Says they were practically burned into his mind. He described them as something that could take your breath away from across the room if your eyes met; a blue as sharp as ice shards. Seems Sean might've slipped a few drinks," the man chuckled.

Jack chuckled as well but his mind was already flying through possible alien species that had eyes like that. Without as much heart before, he smiled to the man, "I didn't catch your name before."

"Sebastian, but you can call me Bas," their eyes locked.

"Well thanks for your help, Bas. I'll leave you to deal with your other customers," Jack nodded his head before leading Gwen away from the now crowded bar to another raised platform with a few couches lining the wall. Owen was in the process of sweet talking some petit redhead but Jack cleared his throat and soon sent the girl on her way. Before Owen could start complaining, Gwen sat down next to him, "You're on the job Owen, come back later if you want to sweet talk someone other than me."

"Ha!" Owen grumbled. Jack smiled down at him before leaning against the railing surrounding the raised platform to scan the crowds. There must have been at least twenty girls with the same height and hair that had been described and he couldn't see any outstanding eyes. He began turning back to look at the occupants on the couch but a flash of blue caught his eyes. 

Whipping back around, his eyes focused on blue ice across the room. His breath was pulled from his lungs and a shiver went down his spine, as if he had been thrown into frozen lake water. His knuckles turned white with how hard he was clasping the metal railing as he tried to drag air into his lungs or pull his gaze away, but neither seemed possible while she held his eyes with her own.

She was standing near the center of the dance floor, surrounded by hormonal teens and adults. No one seemed to bump into her even though she was the only motionless thing on the floor. A smile slowly crept onto her lips as she held his gaze and breath from across the room. Jack had no interest in suffocating tonight but just when he felt his vision begin to fade he saw her look away.

He stumbled back gasping, unable to bring enough air into his lungs fast enough. He was vaguely aware of the others calling his name and asking him what had happened but he waved his hand to shoo them away as he pulled himself back up with the support of the railing. "Got her, she's headed towards the door. We don't know if she can still connect to the Rift on her own so use the cuffs that block the alien from the Rift. Let's go." 

The three pushed their way through the crowd, watching the girl's back as she wove her way towards the door at a leisurely pace. They easily caught up to her before she reached the door and Gwen threw the cuffs around her wrists quickly. Jack then proceeded to throw a black bag over the thing's head before she could use her eyes on them again. Grabbing her hands, the Captain pulled the alien out of the door and down the street towards the SUV.

"Gwen, wrap the handcuffs around the bar on the back of my seat to keep her from moving around," Jack said as Owen moved around to the other side and slipped into his seat. 

"And how do you expect me to do that without it running away?" she hissed at him while holding the alien against the SUV even though it wasn't struggling.

"Um, sorry to interrupt but firstly I'm not an 'it', and secondly I'm not going to run away," the girl spoke a little to the right of the two standing on the sidewalk, unable to see them through the bag.

"Oh yes, because aliens are so trustworthy," Owen snorted as he continued to pack up the computers. 

"Aliens?"

Jack sighed, "I'm not in the mood for this." He pushed the girl into the seat opposite Owen, opened one of the cuffs and held onto the girl's hand while threading the metal through the bar and reattaching it around her hand. He was surprised about the fact that she didn't actually struggle but was too tired to care. "There. Gwen get in the car."

The second after Gwen's door snapped shut, Jack pulled the SUV from the curb and started heading back towards Torchwood. The interior of the car was filled with stony silence for a time until, "So…can we ditch the bag?"

Without hesitation, Jack replied, "No."

"Why not?" the other three could hear a pout in the creature's voice, though they couldn't see its mouth.

"Because you'll suffocate us all or at the very least make me crash the car with your eyes," the Captain explained, though Gwen and Owen looked confused. Jack remembered that he hadn't told them what had happened in the bar and filled them in, "When it catches your eye you can't look away and you can't breathe."

"Look, I'm flattered that you think my eyes are so amazing but you have nothing to worry about. Cross my heart and hope to die," it spoke with sincerity, but that could be easily faked.

"I could help you with the latter," Owen supplied from beside her. She turned towards him, and though he couldn't see its face he had a distinct impression that he was being glared at. As childish as it was, he glared back.

"You're acting like two year olds," Gwen muttered from the front seat. 

That seemed to pull the creature back to the topic at hand and away from Owen, "And besides, I totally can't breathe under this thing. I'm going to die before we get wherever you're taking me."

"Getting a taste of your own medicine," Jack smirked to himself, still upset that he had fallen under the creature's powers the first time.

"Hey, that's mean! I just wanted to get your attention. C'mon, I'm dying here--" she was cut off as they hit a bump on the road.

"You say that like we care," Owen snickered and rolled his eyes.

"Well I'm pretty sure you do care. If you're going through all this trouble to get me somewhere, I'm sure you'll want me alive when we arrive," there was silence in the car when no one agreed with her out loud, though the other three were agreeing in their minds, "Besides, if you were going to kill me, you'd have done it already. What are you, chicken?"

"NO!" Owen shot back, always the first one to take offense. They heard the thing's muffled laughter under the bag. Turning slightly pink, he tried to redeem himself, "How do you know we aren't just taking you somewhere to kill you there?"

"Like a business interaction gone wrong and one person just gets stabbed and left to die in a ditch somewhere? Or more like the mafia taking in someone they think is their 'enemy' and torturing them a bit before killing them?" she asked, sounding truly intrigued. 

"Do you ever shut up?" Jack yelled from the front seat, though Owen's interest had also been perked.

"Well does it really matter? Either way you're going to die by our hands," he said hotly.

"If that's the case, let's put it this way. It'd be pretty fucking pathetic if a bag did the job for you," she stated with scorn. "Like I said before, I'm not going to suffocate you, or make the car crash. Why would I even want to get into a car crash when I'm _chained to the car_?"

"Seriously, shut up," Gwen turned in her seat to glare at the creature along with Owen.

"Seriously? You're not even part of this conversation unless you're going to take the bag off my head. I was clearly talking to this guy on the right who wrongly thinks he's amazing and the driver who is scared of something that isn't even going to happen," the suddenly bitchy tone made Gwen sit back in surprise. When talking to Jack or Owen it had sounded a little ticked off, but it had sounded as if it was having a friendly banter with friends. There was silence in the car again, more awkward than before, but of course it was broken again, "Okay, okay here's the deal. You take the bag off my head and I won't start complaining about these handcuffs digging into my wrists."

The SUV jerked to a stop in a deserted side street as Jack floored the brakes. He slipped out of the front seat, greatcoat fluttering in the night breeze as he opened the back door beside the creature. "Gwen, Owen, close your eyes and if I don't say anything in a minute, shoot," he instructed before reaching forward and pulling the bag slowly off the creature's head. Her eyes fluttered a few times before they adjusted to the bright light of the streetlight behind Jack. 

She met his eyes hesitantly this time, as if worried she'd scare him away. There was no force keeping his gaze with her's this time, and no loss of breath or an ice shower, but he still felt short of breath as he looked into the seemingly luminescent eyes. Her smile this time was much less like the confident one in the bar, and much more like a child who had just made a new friend at school; shy but pleased. 

"Jack?" Owen yelled from the back seat, bringing the other two back to focus. 

Stepping back and adjusting his greatcoat, Jack cleared his throat, "Yeah, all good. Let's get out of here. And you," he pointed at the girl…creature…whatever. She rose an eyebrow at him in question, "don't talk to her," he now pointed at Gwen, "like that again."

"No promises," her eyes darkened slightly, but she turned back to sit properly in the seat. "Oh," she said right before he shut the car door. He looked down at her questioningly, "Erm…thanks for the ditching of the bag."

Jack nodded and closed the door before getting back behind the steering wheel and starting the car again. Gwen smiled at him and he returned the smile before they started driving through the last few streets before they reached Torchwood HQ. "You're an idiot, you know that?"

"What do you mean?" the girl looked over at Owen.

"You just thanked your captor for something," he smirked at her. "Ow! Hey! She kicked me! Jack, she kicked me! Oww!"

"I didn't do anything!" she yelled over Owen behind Jack.

"Jack?" the comm. crackled back to life.

"Yeah Tosh?" he answered as he parked the SUV.

"Did you get sidetracked and pick up two daycare children?"

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**Sorry this update was a few days later than I originally planned for but I got a really bad cold that wiped me out. Anyways, I have a four day weekend now, so even though I'll be celebrating my 18th birthday (yay!) I'm going to update at least once. PLEASE REVIEW, I will love you forever. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks to: Lutherian, Itchigo, JoSchomo666, GossipGirl17, and special thanks to kateg123 for the recommendation! And to those of you who have my story on story-alert, as well as those of you who are just checking out the story, I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint. **

**Disclaimer: Please see chapter 1. **

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**Chapter 3**

The cog door closing was the only thing making a sound in the Hub besides the low hum of computers as Jack led the creature inside by the wrist. Tosh and Ianto looked down from the raised platform that the computers were situated on at the others in obvious interest. Owen walked by and attempted to step on the girl's foot but she jumped out of the way. She tried to step on his foot in return but he was already out of reach.

Jack put one hand on her shoulder to keep her from moving around as he unlocked the handcuffs. The metal clinked against itself as it fell from her wrists and the girl pretended to turn and run, over exaggerating her motions so that the others would catch on. But as she did so she heard the distinct sound of a gun being cocked.

Turning back around slowly she noted Gwen with her gun pointed at her, while the other four stood relaxed. Well at least everyone else had clued in to the fact that it had been a joke… "Watch where you point that thing, I was joking," she rolled her eyes. Gwen still held the gun in place and the girl watched as the finger on the trigger twitched.

She crossed her arms, awaiting the inevitable, but another hand took hold of the gun and pulled it from the older woman's hands. Gwen turned to look at Jack, but after giving her a strange look, he stepped back. "I think everyone should head home early tonight, we're all stressed." There was no doubt that the suggestion was actually an order.

"I need a drink," Owen muttered as he left to collect his overcoat and wallet from where he stored them throughout the day.

"Feel like some company?" He looked over to where Tosh was standing awkwardly. He contemplated turning her down, but instead chose to shrug before continuing on his way towards his desk. With his back turned he didn't see Tosh's relieved smile, but everyone else of the Torchwood team did. The blue-eyed creature gave her a grin from across the room before the computer genius also left to collect her things.

"I'll just finish up this research--" Ianto began but was cut off by Jack.

"You can finish it tomorrow, Ianto. Go home, have fun, relax. Everything will still be here in the morning, I promise," he gave the resident Tea Boy a small smile.

"Yes, sir. Good night all," he waved before heading through the cog door towards the tourist office and his jacket.

"Jack could I speak with you a moment? Alone?" She emphasized when the creature next to her quirked her eyebrows. Shoulders slumping in mock disappointment, she walked away and sat on the steps that were not far away or out of eyesight, but out of normal hearing range. Even though she hadn't planned on trying to run or mess anything up, Gwen clearly thought otherwise and proceeded to come over and cuff her to the stair railing.

Trying to find a comfortable position, which was exceedingly difficult since one of her arms was being pulled upwards, the girl focused her gaze on the two standing near the door. She squinted, trying to make out what they were saying; she hadn't used her lip reading skills in so long she was rusty. Her concentration was also broken when Owen nearly tripped over her on his rush towards the door.

"Hey don't blame me; I was chained here against my will!" She said as he sent her a glare. She forced herself further against the stone wall so that there would be enough room for Tosh to pass by.

"Oh we'll see who has the last laugh. We shall see!" Owen yelled on his way to the door, completely oblivious to the fact that Gwen and Jack were attempting to have a serious conversation. Before she could say anything in return, Owen and Tosh had disappeared through the cog door, leaving a room full of awkwardness. Her attention was brought back to the two across the room when Gwen pointed at her.

"I don't trust her, we don't know who or what she is, where she came from, why she's here, nothing! And you're being too lenient," she pointed at the creature sitting on the steps across the room.

"Too lenient? Gwen, for the very reason that we don't know anything about her we shouldn't overreact. Not all aliens are bad, she could be lost for all we know," Jack crossed his arms over his chest.

"Lost and tearing a hole in the Rift, you mean," she shot at him.

"Look," Jack said in a calming voice, "I'm not going to kill her just because we don't know everything about her."

"I'm not saying you should, I'm saying you should be more cautious with her. I mean, you were going to let her just sit on her own half way across the room. She could've slipped away and destroyed something or gotten away before we even noticed," Gwen accused, finger now trained on the man in front of her.

"If you haven't noticed she hasn't been trying to escape or do anything bad at all," arms still crossed, he looked past the accusatory finger to where the girl was sitting on the stairs. She looked like a normal college girl out for a night of partying, nothing more.

"Except try to suffocate you," the other woman snipped at him.

He sighed, "Come on, Gwen. You're usually the one most ready to give someone a second chance. Where did that girl go?" he placed both of his hands on her shoulders, noticing the slight shiver that traveled through her at the contact. Their eyes met for a brief moment, "Go home and get some sleep. I'll be more cautious and tomorrow we'll get some information out of her."

She sighed and nodded before heading quickly to her desk to grab her wallet and car keys, ignoring the creature as she passed. Jack stayed where he was as Gwen passed him to get to the cog door, and stayed still for a time after that too. He closed his eyes, absorbing the comforting sounds of the Hub; his home. For the first time in a while he let everything fly away, enjoying the quiet emptiness of his mind. Normally he couldn't shut off the thousand and one thoughts that ran through it.

He opened his eyes and blue met blue from across the room. The girl sat silently watching him, one arm raised awkwardly by the handcuff. Her eyes displayed everything her carefully composed face did not, and what he saw scared him. She did not smile, though he saw the happiness. She did not complain, though he saw the pain. She did not run, though he saw the fear.

He walked towards her slowly; transfixed by everything that her eyes were telling him. When he released the cuff from her wrist, her eyes dropped a moment and when she looked back up her eyes were silent once more. Strangely saddened by this Jack took a step back, needing distance. "Maybe you should leave the handcuffs on, you can't be too careful with strangers."

The head of Torchwood stepped aside and raised a hand, offering her the door, "The exit is that way if you care to run." She made no move to rush for the door, or even to stand up. She glanced at the cog briefly before looking back at him, as if the chance at freedom bored her. "That's what I thought. Come on," he said before walking off towards the basement. As he presumed, she followed silently behind him.

Every time they passed a door with a code for the lock she politely looked away while Jack punched in the numbers. Finally they reached the bottom levels of Torchwood where the cells were situated. As they passed Janet's cell, the weevil threw itself at the glass, causing the girl to step back quickly. "Don't worry," he whispered, putting a hand lightly on the girl's back and propelling her forward.

"I wasn't worried," she said indignantly, though a shiver traveled through her anyways.

"Of course you weren't," he mocked lightly as he continued to push her through the damp hall. They passed a number of empty cells before they finally stopped at the final cell in the row. "I'm sure you understand that until we know more about you you'll have to stay here, but I figured I'd give you a cell away from Janet. I hear she snores," he chuckled lightly.

Her lips quirked in amusement, "Doesn't sound like the ideal roommate. But don't worry about it, I've had to sleep in worse places than this in my years," she walked into the small cell, looking around as if studying a potential flat for sale. "Besides," she rubbed her hands along her arms in attempt to warm them, "it's so cozy."

Jack noted goose bumps along her light skin, without any cover from the chill of the basement with her thin t-shirt. For a moment he thought of taking her somewhere warmer, but decided against it. Gwen was right; he had no idea who she actually was. "Well, I'll be back in the morning and we'll start the questionnaire."

He closed the glass door and locked it and headed back towards the exit. The girl proceeded to look for a comfortable spot of ground to make into a bed. Of course there wasn't any spot on the floor less dirty, hard, or cold, but forced her imagination to cooperate. She took up residence against the side wall and leaned her head on the glass, watching Jack's retreating form. When he was out of sight, she moved away from the glass slightly, as it was cold to the touch. She pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them.

Curled up into a ball for warmth, she wondered what time it was. This had felt like the shortest and longest day of her life. She fell into her thoughts in an attempt to ignore her current living conditions, but her concentration fell so deeply into her mind that she didn't notice someone standing at the glass door. Nor did she notice the door being opened or someone kneeling in front of her.

Jack had gotten half way back upstairs before he began to feel guilty. The girl hadn't been trying to destroy the world when she had had a full day before they had caught up to her. He admitted that she could've been planning something, but until he had a reason to doubt her, he felt bad leaving her in the cell freezing. When he reached the cell once more and saw her huddled into a ball he made up his mind and opened the cell door.

When she didn't move he wondered if she was asleep but after kneeling down in front of her, he saw that her eyes were open. With her chin resting on her knees she was looking right at him, but she didn't see him. But as he looked into her eyes, emotions washed over him and he even got quick flashes of imagery. He felt like he was invading her privacy and looked away. Deciding that this had been all together a bad plan, he moved to get up but one of her hands darted out and wound around his, pulling him back down.

Her eyes were still unfocused, but with their hands intertwined he could see and feel more of what the girl was seeing and feeling. The icy blue seemed warmer as he watched an image of himself, smiling widely, float around in her mind's eye. Her finger traced small lines along his hand absently.

As Jack continued to watch, the image of himself was shrouded in darkness for a few moments before a pair of blood red eyes came out of the sea of shadows. Her nails dug into his hand and he felt pain, fear, and anger course through her body as the eyes looked on. Her eyes narrowed and her eyebrows lowered, as if she were having an argument with someone. She started shaking her head and muttering, "I won't," and in a split second the eyes were gone and her eyes came back into focus.

Finally noticing him, she stood up quickly and backed up against the glass, making it rattle with the contact. She swore loudly and muttered, "Testing fate, indeed," before looking up at him. "W-what are you doing here? It's not morning yet, is it?" She cast her eyes around for a window, though obviously there wasn't one.

"No, it's only been about 15 minutes. I came down because I worried you would be too cold down here all night and," he ran his fingers through his hair, "yeah." He took off his greatcoat and slipped it around the girl's trembling shoulders carefully, not wanting to scare her more.

As he pulled away she took hold of his hand that now had five cuts from her fingernails, "Did I do this?" She ran her fingers along his hand softly in concern.

"Yeah…" he cleared his throat, "but don't worry about it. It'll heal," he pulled his hand away; unsure of what was going on. He considered asking about the images and emotions he had felt from her, but he didn't want to piss off a creature with unknown abilities. Besides, she looked tired, and it wasn't like she was going anywhere. "You take care of that coat, it's my favourite."

Before things got any more confusing, Jack slipped out of the cell and locked it behind him. Still, there was one question he couldn't wait until morning to ask, "What's your name?"

Huddled inside of his greatcoat, she looked up at him, "Alethea."

"Alethea," he tested it out, "interesting name. It means 'truth', doesn't it?"

"Yup," she nodded, smiling and looking calmer than she had before, "I was given that name because of my eyes. A very long time ago my parents told me that when I was young they could see the truth of the world in my eyes. Silly, I know, but," she shrugged. "I like it; it's one of the only things I have to remember them with now."

She started trembling again, looking like she had when she had snapped out of her thoughts of the red eyes, but with no idea of what to do for her and not wanting to get too close anymore, Jack decided to leave. "Well Alethea, try to get some sleep. You have lots of questions to answer tomorrow." She forced a smile as he turned to leave.

Just as he reached the end of the hallway of cells he heard the sound of a fist punching glass and the girl yelling to herself, "God I'm such an _idiot_!" He stayed there for a few minutes, wincing every time he heard a fist hit the glass in frustration. "Damn Fates, I'll show them," she continued yelling for a brief time but after one final punch to the glass all sound stopped from the end of the hall.

Figuring she had finally calmed down again, he walked through the door and locked it behind him, heading for his own bed even though he knew for a fact that he wouldn't be sleeping tonight. Not that he slept most nights anyways, but there were too many questions floating around in his head about Alethea for him to be able to sleep even if he kept up normal sleeping patterns.

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**Well how was that? I worry that I'm going too OOC, what do you guys think? I'll try to cut it down as much as I can but it's hard. I'm just geting used to writing these characters as this is my first Torchwood fanfic. Anyways enough babbling. Please review, I adore receiving them and I always respond, so if you have any questions or concerns you'll get an answer. Not sure when I'll update next. Possibly Monday or Tuesday, depends on homework. **


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks: kateg123 and GossipGirl17. Also, I'd like to wish GossipGirl17 a happy 17th birthday. Have a great one and I hope this chapter is a good birthday present! :)**

**Notice: I have been udating fairly recently lately, but with quite a few school projects fast approaching, I can't promise another update before Friday. I don't know if I'll be able to stay away that long so I wouldn't be too worried, but I just wanted to give you a head's up. MY SUGGESTION TO ALL READERS is to put this story on story-alert. Honestly if you like the story it'll make your life easier since my updating will be less regular than it has been while I was on break. **

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**Chapter 4**

As he had expected, Jack had found no sleep last night. Instead he had watched the ripples from the fish tanks play across the walls as question upon question filled his mind about the creature a couple floors beneath him. He refused to let his curiosity get the better of him though, Gwen was right and he needed to be alert and careful. Still, he allowed himself to secretly look forward to the time when he could ask his questions in a few hours.

Unable to stay still any longer in his miniature living space, he got up and got dressed. Only when he finished buttoning up his shirt and putting his suspenders in place did he remember that he had loaned his greatcoat to Alethea the night before. He started heading towards the basement to retrieve it before Gwen saw and had a fit, but was stopped when Ianto stepped through the cog door.

Jack glanced at his watch, "You're early." He changed his direction to walk over to the Welshman whose cheeks were slightly pink from the morning chill. He leaned against the wall as the man bustled about preparing for the day ahead.

"Well I figured I'd come in a bit early incase the creature was causing any problems," he explained with a shrug, filling the coffee maker with freshly ground coffee beans.

"Alethea," Jack corrected without thought.

"Hm?"

"Her name is Alethea," he explained. Ianto looked over his shoulder at him questioningly, "I asked last night after I put her in the cell."

"Ah, I see. Nice name, rather uncommon, but certainly an Earth name from what I know. Wouldn't you say, sir?" Jack, still leaning against the wall, frowned lightly. He hadn't even thought about that last night; of course, Ianto was full of that ability to make connections between seemingly separate facts.

"Yes, I'd agree. It's definitely a human name, not one you'd hear floating around other alien species, at least not many. And we've been over this, Jack will do," he pushed himself off of the wall and walked slowly up to the younger man.

"Of course, s-Jack," the Captain let off a heart-warming smile and patted the other man's shoulder. Ianto cleared his throat, "So I guess I'll get a small breakfast made up for Alethea. Would you like anything at the same time?"

Jack didn't fail to notice the fact that the Tea Boy's cheeks were still a cute shade of pink. "What do you do? Go down there and say 'Oh yeah, sorry about holding you hostage, but here's a bagel'?" he rolled his eyes at how ridiculous that sounded.

"Actually it will be a croissant, as well as a green apple, and coffee," he gave Jack a small smile.

"Order me up two my good man," he said heartily before sauntering off oh so casually towards the basement door. He was halfway there when the cog door opened again to admit Tosh, who looked like she was seriously lacking sleep but content. "Morning Tosh, have fun last night?" he stopped.

She yawned and then nodded. "Yeah, it was good. Nothing happened though!" she said quickly, causing Jack to laugh and look at her expectantly. She became flustered, fidgeting with her handbag. "Well unless you count Owen not ditching me as something."

"With Owen? I'd say you were practically married with that type of step," he nudged her jokingly, "So let's see the engagement ring," he reached for her hand, still laughing.

"Stop it Jack," she said, though she was smiling too. She shoved him away and he raised his hands in defeat. "You really think?"

"Don't give up Tosh, trust me," her Captain enveloped her in a bear hug just as the cog door opened once more. This time a rather grumpy and tired Owen stormed through.

"Morning Owen," Tosh said cheerfully to him. He merely grunted in return, yawning widely. Jack wondered how late the two had been out last night, or should he say this morning?

He noticed Tosh looking dejected after this encounter and whispered in her ear, "In monkey language that means 'Hello to you also. How are you?'" he patted her shoulder and nudged her off in the direction of her computers.

Owen stumbled over to Jack, looking as though he was trying to be inconspicuous and failing, "So did uh…the girl say anything about me last night?"

"Her name's Alethea, and what would she possibly have said?" Jack rolled up his shirt sleeves before crossing his arms.

"Oh, oh nothing," Owen shook his head and waved a hand as if bored by the conversation, "just maybe something about plans to attack, maim, or otherwise mock me. You know…something I could use to prepare against her?" Rolling his eyes, Jack started steering him towards his desk. "You don't know why she's here! She could be planning to destroy my reputation!" the Torchwood doctor yelled as Jack started walking away from where he had deposited Owen.

He passed by Ianto and snatched up the tray filled with food and two mugs of steaming coffee before the other man could blink and headed towards the basement. Finally, he'd get to ask some questions! Before Gwen arrived too; now he wouldn't have to have her worrying about his safety while he asked his many questions. Though it was rather difficult balancing everything and opening the doors, Jack finally made it down to the small hallway of cells.

Ignoring Janet all together, he quickly walked the last few steps until he was outside Alethea's cell. He was disappointed to see that his questions would still have to wait as she was still curled up, asleep, inside his greatcoat. He didn't think anyone evil could look so innocent, even in sleep. Her legs were curled up, only her hands holding the coat in place and her face, half hidden under the worn fabric, were visible. He set the tray down, grabbing his mug of coffee and a green apple and stood outside the glass wall for a few moments, debating on whether or not to wake her.

Finally he decided that his questions had waited long enough and that she could sleep later and knocked on the glass. It took a couple of hard raps on the glass to get her to stir, but finally Alethea's eyes blinked open and focused on him. She smiled at him and he couldn't help but smile back through the glass at her, but before he could say anything the alarms went off. Cursing, he gave her an apologetic shrug and dashed off for the exit.

When he got back upstairs everyone was already in the process of getting ready to head out. As Gwen passed him he took hold of her arm and pulled her aside. "Hey, are you feeling better?"

She smiled and nodded, "Yeah, I just needed a night to calm down and relax. Thanks," she then proceeded to wrap her arms around his neck for a quick hug and even managed to sneak a quick peck on the cheek in while everyone else was distracted.

Jack smiled down at her and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear before stepping away and asking, "So what do we have?" his voice completely authoritative despite a moment before. "Not another alien like Alethea I'm hoping?"

"Nope, definitely weevil signatures, but it's weird since they aren't usually active during the day. Nonetheless, there are signals of four weevils in the area of the Cardiff University," Tosh read the facts off the computer screen.

"Four weevils? At the university? Oh what a way to start the day," Jack sighed and rushed up to his office to grab another coat since hadn't had time to get his greatcoat back. "I want everyone in the SUV in one minute; everyone's going to have to come if there are four in a crowded area." He dashed back down the stairs, pulling his arm through the jacket sleeve as he went. By the time he slipped into the driver's seat of the shiny back vehicle, everyone else was already squished inside and complaining loudly about the lack of space.

"Why don't we have a bigger car? Or another one?" Owen whined.

"Ow, that was my hand!" Gwen jerked away from Owen, who was sitting between the two women of Torchwood.

"Owen don't knock that, you might disconnect the computer…" Tosh muttered while powering up the computers.

"I mean, if we have nearly unlimited funds why can't we get another car? Then we'd--"

"—can't believe I'm stuck next to such a--"

"Quiet please, I'm trying to--"

"I guess this is why all five of us never go out on a mission together, eh Jack?" Ianto said and the two shared a look across the front seats before Jack put the SUV into gear and started driving.

"I mean, why not just bring Janet and Alethea along too? Make it into a game--"

"Who's Alethea?"

"Why are the computers never working when we need them? If only I could reach…Owen can you--?"

"—and see how many people you can fit into an SUV before murder is committed and—no Tosh, I can't – see how long I can go before Alethea--"

"Seriously, who's Alethea? Ow Owen, that was my foot!"

"I can't get the co-ordinates if you don't get that cable and--"

"—know she's planning something," Owen finally looked at Tosh. "What bloody cable do you need? Can't you see I'm planning how to keep my reputation alive from Alethea's plans?"

"Who the fuck is Alethea?" Gwen was getting seriously pissed now, but was unable to move in the slightest.

"The red one," Tosh said simply.

"There are like…twenty fucking red cables, Tosh," Owen muttered before leaning over. He proceeded to pick them up, one after the other so Tosh could see until he found the right one and plugged it in.

"Can someone _please_ tell me who Alethea is?" Gwen seethed, about ready to strangle Owen since he was the only thing she had a chance of reaching with such limited space. When he started whining about his reputation's health again she started trying to pull her hands free to do so.

"Alethea is the girl we picked up yesterday; I thought someone would've told you already. Now get on the phone with the police and tell them to stay away from Cardiff University even if there are calls. We'll handle it," Jack said.

"And how do you expect me to do that, Jack? I can't move," she glared at his eyes in the rearview mirror, extra pissed now that she knew she was the only one who hadn't been told about the thing's name.

"Oh you're flexible enough. And a little bit more practice in flexibility can always come in handy," Jack winked at her in the mirror. Cheeks turning red, she began to fumble for her phone and tried to free her arms. "Now, Tosh get me directions to the university. I haven't been by there in a while. Owen, shut up and stop whining. You're sitting between two very beautiful women; I don't see how you aren't enjoying yourself. And Ianto," he glanced briefly at the man sitting beside him, "please never turn into them. Stay exactly as you are."

Ianto smiled and Jack smiled back before returning his focus to the road, following Tosh's directions to the university. After an uncomfortable twelve minutes, when everyone was beginning to think murder would be worth Jack's wrath, Tosh called out, "Nearly there. It should be just up ahead, off North Road."

The SUV was driven into one of the visitor's parking lots and everyone fell out of the car gratefully. Owen lay face down on the grass, attempting to hug said grass and began muttering, "Oh ground, never shall I forsake you again."

Jack took hold of his collar and pulled Owen from the ground, setting him back on his feet before scanning the area. "Well I don't see any blood or people running, nor do I hear screaming. Are you sure this is where they are, Tosh?"

"It's still early, and a Sunday. No one is up at this time. But the weevils' signals are coming from the courtyard just a little way to the east," she said, now wielding a complex version of a GPS.

"Alright, lead the way and everyone stay alert!" he warned before taking out his gun. The others did likewise and headed in the direction the machine was displaying. When they reached the courtyard they saw that it was relatively out of the way, against the back of two large buildings.

Their eyes focused on the weevil devouring a human body on the fountain, which was spraying water tinted red from the blood of the body that had seeped in. Gwen turned and retched and Jack put a hand on her back to steady her, disgusted by the scene. Without thought he pointed the gun and shot the weevil in the back of the head. It let out a screech before collapsing into the fountain with the body.

When Gwen was finished he rubbed circles on her back and helped her stand up again. "Owen, go and get the SUV and drive it over here. Ianto call a taxi; we aren't going to be able to fit the weevil bodies and all of us inside the SUV." Both males nodded and Ianto pulled out a cell phone while Owen dashed back to the parking lot, gun drawn and raised. "Tosh, where are the other three?"

"Not far off. They're all together and moving up through that alleyway between the two buildings, possibly looking for a door to get inside," she suggested before showing Jack and Gwen the screen.

"Alright, let's go," Jack led the two girls into the alleyway, gun pointing directly ahead as he watched for movement. A shadow streaked by above him and he pointed his gun upwards, but there was nothing there but a clear blue sky. He checked both directions of the alleyway but there was nothing besides him, Tosh and Gwen.

He figured it had been a startled bird and continued on, "Wait hold on," Tosh paused and the other two turned to look at her. "They stopped moving. They should be just up ahead and around a corner." They continued down the alleyway, Jack and Gwen's guns facing forward and Tosh watching their back. "Just up here," she whispered.

Jack held up his hand to stop the others and slipped quickly around the corner, pointing the gun around. He certainly wasn't expecting what he found. There, in a pile, where the other three weevils. Eyes glazed over and dark blood welling up on the grass, they were most definitely dead, though the small daggers protruding from all three chests could've given the same indication. He dropped his hand, signaling that the others could come forward, as he walked up to the three and nudged one with his foot just to be safe; there was no response. "You're sure there are no other aliens around here?"

"Positive…wait…no, never mind. I thought I saw something on the screen but it must have been the sun reflecting on the screen. There's nothing else around." Jack trusted Tosh's word, but checked for himself anyways. She was right, nothing out of the ordinary nearby, or in the surrounding area.

He sighed and knelt down, pulling one of the three daggers out of the weevil's chest. He wiped off the blood on the grass and then looked it over. It shone as if it was made of silver and the blood hadn't tainted it at all. There was also letters engraved into the blade, and a small, light blue jewel in the hilt. From its appearance to Jack it looked like aquamarine.

He pulled out the other two, both of which had pierced the weevils' hearts precisely. Both were also identical to the first in every way, from the jewel to the engravings, to the size; they couldn't have been longer than ten inches and felt as light as a feather. Finally he stood up, "We're going to have to get these guys back to the courtyard fast. If you can't drag one on your own then drag one together and I'll come back for the third," he said before stuffing the daggers in his coat pocket and grabbing hold of the first weevil's arms.

Jack grunted as he pulled the weevil through the grass towards the courtyard. Weevils were heavy enough as it was, but dragging dead weight through unsmooth ground was even more of a pain in the ass. He watched Gwen and Tosh work together to drag another of the weevils out of the alleyway behind him, and after a few pained minutes the two bodies were deposited next to the vehicle. Owen and Ianto had done a great job of cleaning up already, the human and weevil body gone and the cobblestone and fountain cleaned of blood.

As the others began to work on getting the two new bodies into the SUV, Jack turned back to get the final body. As he scanned the courtyard he spotted a student sitting on the edge of the roof of one of the buildings, as he often did himself on the top of a building near Torchwood's Hub. He began turning away, but familiar ice eyes flashed in his mind. He looked back up, this time shielding his eyes from the sun to see better.

There was Alethea, legs swinging slightly, Jack's own greatcoat around her shoulders with the ends fluttering in the wind. He couldn't make out her face well, but like at the bar, her eyes held his from across the distance of the courtyard. "Guys," he turned back to the group, "Look! It's Alethea on top of the building! Who let her out?"

The others all looked up at where he was pointing and then looked back down at him, "Jack, there's no one there."

"Don't be stupid, she's right…" he turned back towards the building, "…there." But she wasn't. There was no one on the roof at all, let alone a creature with ice eyes wearing his own greatcoat.

"Why don't you stay here, Jack? I'll get the last body," Ianto offered. "The taxi will be here soon anyways."

"Guys I'm fine! I swear she was _right there_!" he pointed at the roof again, speaking in a deadly calm voice. Ianto headed off in the direction of the alley and Owen finished packing away the dead bodies. Gwen came over to check his temperature by placing her hand on his forehead, but he was not in the mood.

"Look Jack, this didn't pick up any alien traces. It was probably just a trick of the light, and the stress. Did you sleep last night?" Tosh asked in concern after showing him the GPS screen to confirm her facts.

"No Tosh, I didn't, but it's not like that's out of the ordinary. And I don't feel very much like being babied right now, thank you," he rubbed the heels of his palms into his eyes, leaving red dots dancing in his eyesight afterwards. The others got the final body in the SUV, which would need serious cleaning after this trip, and cleaned up the blood that had streaked the grass and cobblestones. Meanwhile Jack continued to watch the roof where he had seen Alethea sitting calmly. When they got back to the Hub and she was gone, that'd show the team.

And if she was there, well…she had a lot of questions to start answering.

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**Right, so you still need to wait for answers, though I promise they are coming next chapter so stay tuned! A little side note, I don't know if Torchwood actually has fish tanks, I just remember there being ripples on the walls at night so I took a guess. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. **

**Please review, only takes a second and it also makes me update faster :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Thanks to: kateg123, Lutherian, Aannaa, and GossipGirl17. Your reviews completely made my day! :)**

**Disclaimer: (I think I forgot it for last chapter too...oops) Please see chapter 1.**

**Suggestion: Again, I'd like to suggest readers adding this to story alert. Makes your lives so much easier :P**

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**Chapter 5**

Jack stormed down the dank hallway towards the last cells with the rest of his team fanned out behind him. He wanted to see their faces when they saw that the girl was no longer in the cell. Therefore he was rather upset to find her calmly sitting in the cell, huddled up in his greatcoat and munching on a croissant. "What are you doing in there?" he barked.

She looked up in confusion, "I don't know. You're the one who put me here, remember?" Alethea proceeded to sip the coffee sitting in front of her.

"Don't play dumb. You got out; I saw you at the university! You were watching while we took care of the weevils and then you disappeared," he jabbed an accusatory finger at her. He looked around to the others for support but they all looked away uncomfortably. He growled and turned back to the girl in the cell.

"I was never at the university," she said with conviction, "was everything okay though?"

"Yes, no injuries for us, though a student of the university was killed before we got there--" Ianto explained before being silenced by Jack's hard glare. Ianto cleared his throat.

Everyone was quiet for a moment while the Captain tried to shift through his thoughts. He could have bet his immortality on seeing Alethea at the university; it _had_ been her, not some trick of the light. But self doubt began to creep into his mind. Why would she come back here to be stuck in a cell for questioning if she could escape? Even if she wasn't evil and planning the destruction of Earth she'd still want to get away. Then something clicked in his mind, "If you didn't get out, how did you get the tray of food?"

"You left it in here before you left," she said simply before taking another bite of her croissant.

"If I had been in the cell I would've gotten the greatcoat back," he assured her.

"Speaking of which, why does she have your greatcoat, Jack?" Gwen crossed her arms as he looked at her.

"I figured she would be cold overnight down here so I gave it to her. I was going to get it back this morning but I _wasn't_ in the cell and didn't have time," he directed the last bit to Alethea for good measure.

"I'm sure Janet gets cold down here all the time, but you don't give it your greatcoat," she pressed on.

"Weevils have higher tolerance to the cold," Owen supplemented.

"Would you give your coat to a weevil? There'd be nothing left," Ianto said.

"He probably just didn't think of a blanket at the time," Tosh suggested.

"Alethea's different," Jack said. Though all four had spoken at the same time, the leader's comment was the one that rang in Gwen's ears. Her eyes narrowed before she stalked away down the hallway. Jack wanted to run after her but had to stay and get the truth out of Alethea.

"I would've given the coat back sooner if I had known it would cause this much drama," she said solemnly as she slipped the coat from around her body. She held it out in offering towards Jack, and he didn't fail to notice her shivering already with the direct contact to the damp air.

"Keep it for now; I'll get a blanket later. Now back to the previous discussion. I did not open the cell door; I left the tray of food on the ground and then had to leave," he nodded in affirmation of his thoughts; he knew he was right in this.

"Are you sure?" she raised an eyebrow.

A flash of doubt came and passed before he nodded again, "I'm sure."

"You're right; I did get out to grab the food. But I didn't go to the university; I can assure you of that."

"Would you like to tell me how you got out before I find out by my own methods?" Jack offered. The girl pulled something out of her hair before walking up to the glass door and slipping it through one of the holes in the glass. Jack bent to pick up the item while Alethea sat back down against the side wall.

Lifting it to the light, everyone saw that it was a small bobby pin now resting between Jack's fingers. Tosh was the first to take offense, "You can't honestly expect me to believe you escaped my technology with nothing but a bobby pin."

"You say that like it's a normal bobby pin," she rolled her eyes. "Anyways, since I told you the truth and gave up my escape method can I have another croissant, please?" she slid the empty tray closer to the door, which made a sharp metallic sound on the ground.

"Stop begging," Owen ordered in disgust.

"Stop lurking," she shot back.

"I'm not lurking! Jack, am I lurking? Tell her I'm not lurking!" Owen ranted like a child whose birthday party had been delayed.

Distracted, lost in his own whirlwind of thoughts, Jack offered a line that he knew would get rid of Owen, "Just a little." He felt bad siding against Owen, but he needed quiet to think, and to ask Alethea the question that was eating away at his sanity.

Owen's mouth dropped open and he turned to glare at the girl. She stuck her tongue out at him, and he did likewise. "Just remember who's going to be keeping you healthy when you get hypothermia from being down here too long!" he threatened before storming off in the same style as Gwen.

Tosh looked torn between staying with the others and following Owen. Jack gave her an excuse to follow after him, "Tosh, pull up the CCTV of this room from last night until now. See how she got out." She nodded and hurried off after Owen before he got all the way back upstairs. "Ianto, could you get a few more croissants from upstairs?"

"Are you sure you wouldn't like me to stay, s-Jack?" Ianto caught his mistake and turned the lightest shade of pink, barely noticeable in the dim lighting.

Jack smiled lightly, "Thanks, but I'll be fine." The other man nodded and left at a more leisurely pace than the others had gone. Jack waited until the heavy metal door clanged shut behind him before he unlocked and opened the cell door and moved to stand on the opposite side of the cell from Alethea. "So…you don't want to leave do you?"

She looked away from him as she said, "I don't see any reason why I would want to stay."

"Why do you look away when you say that unless you are lying and don't want me to see the truth?" he prodded softly. He knew he was already getting distracted from his original line of questions; the ones centered on her origin and purpose of being here, but he didn't really mind.

"Not because I'm lying, but because, Jack Harkness, you need to understand that looking in my eyes won't just give you the answer you are looking for. You know that it shows the truth, but you don't know how it works," she was still looking away from him, talking to the wall even though he held her full attention.

"Then tell me how it works." There, the challenge was out there. He waited with baited breath for her to turn to him and explain.

There was silence in the cell as she debated over whether or not to explain it to him. Finally she turned to him but there was nothing in her eyes; it was as if they were dead. After he had seen the truth in her eyes the night before he had gotten used to the idea and now this lack of emotion, imagery…anything was startling and made him feel empty. "First thing you need to understand is that it's not an open invitation; I can block it off."

"Don't," the solitary syllable sounded like a whispered plea drawn from his lips. A second later her eyes came alive again, allowing him to see some of the emotions and thoughts she was having.

"The second thing you need to understand is even if I'm allowing you to see the truth; it doesn't mean it will be the truth you are looking for," she looked at him with a warning in her eyes.

He took a deep breath before shaking himself back into focus, "What do you mean?"

"I have a choice of what I do, or do not, show you. People never," she remembered the night before, "_almost_ never see what I don't want them to see. I can choose what you see to some extent, though there are some emotions, thoughts, or images that are always floating around on the fringes. Everyone has those thoughts that, though not always prominent, are always present in their minds." She took a breath, "Okay here's an example; say I'm a deer--"

"You're a deer?" Ianto asked in confusion, having only caught her last few words as he returned to the cell.

"No I am not a deer," she turned to the Torchwood butler, annoyed at having been interrupted.

"But you just said--"

"It's an example! I am _not_ a deer!"

"Are you sure?" Ianto asked ask he walked into the cell and placed the plate of croissants on the floor.

"I'm positive," she shot back.

"Only fools are positive," he assured her.

"Are you sure?"

"I'm pos—Hey!" he exclaimed as Alethea and Jack both burst out laughing. "Well fine then, I'll just take these croissants back…"

"No! You can stay for the example!" the girl offered, quickly trying to make amends. She hadn't eaten much in quite a while and she felt as if her stomach was starting to digest itself. "Anyways," she began once she had grabbed another croissant and Ianto had sat down next to Jack, "deer are natural born prey and therefore are born with a constant fear of predators. Even if the deer is living in a place without predators, the fear of being caught will still be there."

"I don't see a coherent point to this example, for the record," Ianto shared with the others. Jack patted his shoulder in understanding.

"So say I was a deer. If you looked into my eyes you'd be able to see what I was currently thinking about, say if I had found a new…berry bush or something," she shrugged.

"A _berry bush_?" Jack quirked an eyebrow.

"Hey, have you ever been a deer?" Jack shook his head in the negative, "Then don't go around proclaiming yourself a deer expert!" Alethea huffed in annoyance. "As I was saying, you'd be able to see what I was currently thinking about, but you'd also be able to pick up on the fear as well since it's always there. Get it?"

The males were silent for a moment, "That," Ianto began with a frown, "was without a doubt, the weirdest and most confusing analogy I have ever had the misfortune to hear."

"Did you get it though?" She asked in frustration.

"I don't even know what we're talking about," the Welshman confided.

"Honestly, that's probably safer," she nodded before looking at Jack.

"I got it," he assured her. Not like he would've told her if he hadn't though; Ianto was right, that analogy had hurt his head. "Ianto could you do me a favour and log those daggers we got out of the weevils after cleaning them up? I don't want to leave them lying around."

Recognizing the nudge for the door, the younger man nodded and left the other two in the cell. Once he was gone again Alethea turned back to the man in front of her, "You didn't tell him about my eyes."

He shrugged, "It's not my secret to tell, and I don't think it'll kill them not knowing…will it?" Alethea shook her head. "So tell me, can you use your eyes to read minds?"

The girl burst out laughing, the sound startling Jack with its suddenness. Finally she calmed down and cleared her throat, "Sorry, it's just that everyone who's known about my eyes, and there haven't been that many people, have asked me that. To answer your question, no I cannot read minds; it's a one way deal. Nonetheless, I've learned enough about emotions throughout the years to be able to guess what people are thinking a lot of the time."

"You keep saying 'throughout the years' and 'in my years', but you can't be any older than twenty two," he guessed.

"Twenty three actually," again she turned her head away from him again. Though his curiosity flared, he forced himself to respect her need for privacy.

"You're twenty three? You look fabulous," he winked at her.

She chuckled, "Why Mr. Harkness are you flirting with me?" He shrugged his shoulders casually and looked away so she continued, "Anyways, I _look_ twenty three because that's the way my people aged."

Jack grew serious at once, "Your people?"

"The Kalarae," she supplied.

The Captain snorted at her mistake; after being alive for so long he knew quite a lot about the history of the universe locked away in his brain, "Don't be ridiculous, that race was wiped out nearly 1300 years ago."

"Very good, Captain. Yes, they were destroyed at the very beginning of the War. But what else do you know of them?" she didn't seem offended by his continued laughter.

Jack racked his memory, "A fairly advanced civilization despite its lack of unique abilities. I know the Kalarae people didn't have your eyes though…"

"A few did, though not many. It wasn't well documented as many believed it was a negative mutation. Sometimes I can't help but think it's negative as well," she continued to talk as if she really was from the lost society. "Anything else?"

"Home planet in the galaxy Lavaitha in the constellation of Drake the Brave; one of the most long living races along with the Time Lords. Appeared to age one year every century or so…" his mind began to grasp what she was saying, and he looked up at her quickly.

She nodded, "I was close to my 1000th birthday when they came for our planet. My parents had sent me away a week before to one of the farther planets in the constellation. They said it was an early birthday present, sending me to the beach for a couple of weeks. I didn't know at the time it would be my last time seeing them or my family again." Her head dropped onto her knees as she let out a quiet sob.

Without thought Jack got up and sat next to the weeping girl, sitting down and wrapping his arms around her into a tight hug. She turned into the hug, though she had already forced her crying to stop. As the minutes passed Jack realized how odd this was becoming. A girl who looked about half his age who was actually the last of her kind and about five times as old as him. He had expected an alien bent on world destruction; he hadn't been expecting this at all.

Alethea began to speak against his chest and he had to strain to hear her properly, "The last of an already lonely race. I suppose you and The Doctor would be the ones to best understand that."

Jack stiffened at her comment, "You know The Doctor? And what did you mean by me?" He asked cautiously.

"I've run past the Doctor a couple times throughout the centuries. It happens; after all that time its hard not running into people you know who haven't died. We're…" she searched for the word, "acquaintances of sorts. And I already know about your fix in time," she confided, sounding guilty.

"Were you spying on me?" he accused, pushing her away slightly.

Her eyes widened and he saw the truth there before she even spoke, "No, of course not! Well…not exactly. I asked a few people about you," Jack saw an image of her talking with The Doctor, who he had been longing to see again, "and then I might've watched you for a bit. But I wasn't getting into your business or anything! I'm sorry," her eyes dropped in shame.

Jack didn't know what to think, or whether or not to forgive her. This whole conversation had sent his head spinning. He was angry at her for spying on him but when he looked in her eyes he knew there was more to the story than just that. "Why were you spying on me, and why are you here now?"

Alethea opened her mouth, her explanation on the tip of her tongue but was interrupted by a soft rapping on the cell door. Both turned to look up and saw Tosh standing there. "Jack you need to come and see this."

"Can it wait?" he asked in exasperation at the bad timing.

"Not really, no," she said. He sighed and pushed himself off the cold ground. Jack turned, about to say something to Alethea, but his gaze fell into her's and he saw something flickering at the very back, like she had described in her analogy before. What he saw made him turn and leave the cell quickly, not even bothering to check and see if Tosh was following him upstairs in his hurry.

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**Sorry this took a couple of days to get out, I honestly had 4 ISUs to do this week, including having to read a 500 page book in 4 days. And all I wanted to do was write! Totally not fun. Oh well, I hope you guys liked this chapter; I figured you all deserved a few answers at least :P More will come with time. My goal is to update Sunday, or Monday latest, it really depends on how long this book takes me to read. **

**Please let me know what you thought of this chapter, I reply to all questions and comments (though I won't answer questions that will ruin plot ahaha). Review please :D**


	6. Chapter 6

**Thanks to: Sky-Pirate325, GossipGirl17, kateg123, and Lutherian. The reviews mean a lot :D**

**Disclaimer: Please see chapter 1.**

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**Chapter 6**

He knew Tosh was having problems keeping up with his long strides but he didn't stop moving until he was standing in front of her computers. She appeared behind him a moment later, breathing a little quicker than normal since she had had to jog up multiple flights of steps in order to keep up.

Tosh passed her boss and sat in the chair; pulling up the footage she had just finished reviewing. "This is the best I've got since we didn't have the camera for that cell turned on at the time. So this footage is from one of the hallway cameras."

"And why was the cell camera not turned on?" Jack leaned on the back of Tosh's chair as he looked at the frozen video of the cell corridor.

"We never turn them on unless there's something in the specific cell so we don't have blank video files accumulating on the computer. And last night since we all left before you put her in the cell, it wasn't turned on. Nonetheless, this camera still has a view of the cell from an angle so when I zoom…" she proceeded to do so to magnify and focus the video on Alethea's cell door, "you can still see everything. It's just a bit grainy."

"Well, let's see it then," Jack leaned forward as Tosh pressed play. He watched an empty hallway for about 30 seconds before he saw himself pushing the girl down the hallway lightly. As they continued to watch the other Torchwood members surrounded them to watch the screens as well. Even Gwen sidled up beside Jack after a few minutes, smiling when Jack wrapped an arm around her in a one armed hug. Tosh fast forwarded through the night as there was nothing to see but paused it again as they saw Jack walking quickly down the hallway with a tray of food.

Everyone leaned closer to watch as the recorded Jack set down the tray on the floor and knock on the glass. Jack was glad that the video was grainy enough and the angle wasn't good for anyone to see him smile at Alethea; he didn't want Gwen any more upset than she was before. They heard the muffled scream of the alarm through the speakers and saw Jack run out of view. They then saw Alethea appear by the glass door, looking down at the tray of food longingly.

As they continued to watch the video she disappeared and reappeared from view as she paced the cell in apparent thought. Then she stopped in front of the glass, pulled out the offending bobby pin that was now resting on the computer genius's desk. Alethea held the makeshift lock pick where the keyhole would've been if the cell doors used keys, though every one of Torchwood Three knew that the doors were opened with codes. There was no access to the keypad from the inside of the cell but they watched in amazement as, after a small glimmer of light, she seemed to slide the bobby pin through the glass and into the keypad.

Everyone cocked their heads to the side as the door swung open and the alien girl stepped out into the hall, looked directly at the camera and waved. She then picked up the tray and moved back into the cell, locking the door behind her. Assuming that was it, the others drifted away, but Jack continued to watch the screen as Alethea sat down with the tray of food against the glass, as if watching for his return. He noted that she wasn't touching the food and watched as she started pacing again.

She went around the cell a few times, and Jack began to grow bored; obviously she had been telling the truth about not going to the university. It took him a minute to realize that Alethea wasn't circling the cell anymore; she wasn't even in view of the camera. He cursed the camera's angle but there was nothing to be done. The girl didn't reappear and sit back down to start eating until about five minutes before Jack stormed down the hallway.

Jack pressed his hand to his face in thought, watching the screen absentmindedly. He had no proof, for all he knew she could've just been in the corner of the cell that wasn't visible to the camera, but her disappearance from sight set his suspicions ablaze again. Tosh interrupted his thoughts, "I've done some tests on the bobby pin and there's nothing out of the ordinary about it. I could've walked down to a hair salon and picked this up off the counter."

He nodded; he had had a feeling that was the case. "Tosh, can you set up the camera for her cell immediately? I don't want anything going on out of sight from now on." He pocketed the bobby pin and headed towards his office. The moment the door was closed he was pushed against it and his lips were assaulted. Finding this a nice turn of events for the day he quickly took charge and began kissing the person back.

After a few enjoyable moments Jack pushed them back a tiny bit, though he left his hands around their waist. He opened his eyes and was surprised to see Gwen standing directly in front of him. He smiled and pulled her against him as he kissed her again, her lips soft and inviting against his own. Surprised by her forwardness but not about to complain, Jack continued to enjoy the kiss until a sharp stab of guilt flew through his heart.

Pulling on a reserve of self control he didn't actually possess Jack unwillingly pulled Gwen away from his mouth. Trying to catch his breath, he tried to figure out why he had pulled her away. After all, he had wanted to kiss Gwen for quite some time now and it wasn't like him to turn down a good make out session. His mind was buzzing, making it difficult to think properly, but he finally pulled a conclusion out of the many floating around that made sense. "What about Rhys?"

Gwen shrugged, suddenly unsure of herself. "Rhys is a great guy but…he's not…you," she ducked her head to hide her blush. Jack pulled her against him and kissed the top of her head while he tried to think. But before he even had a semblance of an ordered thought he heard cursing from downstairs.

"Shit! Jack!" Tosh yelled in panic from her computer screens. Jack was out of his office and down the stairs faster than anyone could blink. The others came rushing up behind him as Tosh pointed at the screen. Everyone looked up and saw that the cell being taped was empty. "I'm so sorry; I should've gotten the camera up sooner. I'm so sorry!"

Owen shuffled up to the overly distraught Tosh and rested a hand on her shoulder, "It wasn't your fault. Calm down." He continued to pat her shoulder awkwardly until she calmed down.

"Owen's right, this isn't your fault. It would make sense that she wouldn't give up every means of escape. She probably had other bobby pins in her hair, or something else she could use," Jack reasoned with her, also patting her shoulder.

"But that's the thing Jack. I had the CCTV of the hallway still up while I worked and she didn't leave. I swear I watched the whole time; she never touched the doorway or went out into the hall," Tosh had calmed down somewhat but Owen still stood next to her as she explained the impossible aspect of Alethea's disappearance.

"And we're sure this is the right cell? That we didn't turn on the wrong camera by accident?" Jack asked as he looked closer. Though it was hard to see with the dim light, he noted his greatcoat folded on the floor.

"Guess so," Ianto said from behind the others. He leaned forward past everyone else to see the screen better. "What's that? It's hard to see because of the glare on the glass, but I think there's something there," he pointed to a part of the glass door that seemed to be scratched up. Tosh sat down and froze the video before zooming the frozen frame. It was ridiculously hard to see, but there etched in the glass was writing spelling out '_I'm Sorry_'.

Jack straightened and headed for the lift. The others called after him, "Jack what are you doing? You can't find her; the computers don't pick up a trace of her now that the rift energy is gone from her body!"

He ignored them as he started the lift and got on. As it started to rise he yelled out, "I don't know how I'll find her…but I _will_!" And then the lift started passing through the ground and the four members of his team were out of his sight. As the lift slowed to a stop under the water tower he tried to decide which direction to go. She couldn't have gotten too far as she hadn't been alone long, but if he went the wrong way he'd have no chance of finding her.

Jack scanned the plaza and walked to the docks, trying to get a panoramic view of the entire area; maybe she wasn't gone yet. Suddenly he heard a scream echo across the water, his head shooting upwards to find the source. He was just in time to see someone jump off the top of the St. David's Hotel and into the frigid waters of Cardiff Bay. Moments later as he was running around the bay towards the hotel his cell phone went off in his pants pocket. "What've you got for me?"

"I was checking police lines and someone just put in a call that someone jumped off St. David's Hotel into the Bay. The person described sounded very similar to Alethea…" Ianto continued to speak into the phone but Jack didn't hear him. His heart had jumped into his throat and he hung up the phone and put it away, picking up speed.

When he reached the front point of the hotel on the water he saw that there were a few people watching from their balconies; one of them must've called. He looked out to the water and saw the person swimming out farther. "Alethea!" He yelled out, thankful that the water carried his voice. Though she was pretty far out into the bay by now he saw her stop for a second and look back at him; at least he thought she was looking back at him. "Get back here right now!" He punctuated each word to be sure they didn't blend together across the water.

"I can't Jack, I'm sorry," she called, though she didn't pause between words and he found it hard to separate the mixed up words. "Coming here was a mistake that I'm going to correct right now." With that she started swimming further away from shore. Her words echoed in his ears, the ominous promise settling around him. Without another thought he slipped out of his jacket and shirt so they wouldn't weigh him down, threw his cell phone on top and dove into the water.

He quickly gained on her and at first he thought it was because she was waiting for him or had changed her mind, but then he realized that her muscles must be seizing up in the cold. His suspicions were confirmed when she began to sink lower into the water. Just as her black hair slipped under the small waves he reached her and pulled her back up above the water. Her eyes opened marginally, though her eyelashes were encrusted with hardening salt, "Just leave me Jack. It'll make things so much easier." Her voice was faint.

"I'm not leaving you, now wrap your arms around my neck," he instructed. She shook her head wearily and he had to hold her above the water as he treaded water. "Alethea, _look at me_," she did, but her eyes were dull and unfocused. "Put your arms around me neck or so help me…I will…_do something_!" he couldn't think of a good threat. She slowly wrapped her arms around his neck, though she had a lot of trouble since her body was seized up. "Now keep your head above the water and stay awake, I'll get us back to shore."

With great difficulty the Captain began to swim back towards shore while he felt the frigid temperatures seep into his toes and fingers. His mind was starting to fog and he felt Alethea's hold loosening as she drifted away into sleep. "Alethea!" He said harshly to wake her up. "Tell me a story to keep us both awake."

He wasn't sure if she had heard him or if her lips were sealed shut but her faint voice began to speak into his ear, "One day a young girl, accustomed to warmth, found herself upon the steps of a castle of ice with no knowledge of how she got there."

"Can it be someplace warm please?" He asked. He didn't need more reason to acknowledge the biting cold around him.

"I'm just telling the story," she whispered, her lips brushing his ear. Though he was sure it had been accidental he couldn't stop the shudder that traveled through his body. "She walked up the steps and into the castle as if being called by a force unseen. She passed through many echoing hallways, always being watched by the living soldier statues. Finally she entered the main hall, decorated in a warm red and gold. There stood the Queen and she did not smile."

Jack felt the shudders run through Alethea. He cast a worried glance at the shore; they had been farther out than he had originally realized. Determined to reach shore, he pressed on as the girl tried to start her story again through half sealed lips. "The girl walked up towards the Queen but did not smile. This was not a friendly encounter; this was business. 'I have a proposition for you' the Queen smiled down at her, though it wasn't a pleasant smile. 'And what do I get in return?' the girl asked, for she never did anything without a reward lying at the end..."

She was fading fast, Jack could tell, but he was also nearing the shore where a small group of people were huddled around watching. He spotted his loyal Torchwood team at the front of the group, watching anxiously. He needed to keep her awake, "What was the reward, Alethea?" She didn't even move her head, "Alethea!"

"Eternity with the other half of my soul," she whispered before slipping into a state of unconsciousness. Luckily Jack reached the shore a moment later. Ianto and Owen pulled Alethea out of the water, Jack pulling himself out after he was sure the girl was out of the water. His movements were stiff and jerky, the blood flow frozen in his veins but he threw his shirt back on to stop the biting wind and wrapped his coat around Alethea.

He then proceeded to stoop down and pull the frozen girl into his arms, straighten, and start walking back towards the tourist office entrance to Torchwood. "Nothing to see people, everything's under control," the others assured the crowd as they passed but Jack couldn't be bothered with them; let them look if they liked. Alethea's words repeated in his mind, 'Eternity with the other half of _my_ soul,' not '_her_ soul'.

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**A/N: Right, well I don't live in Cardiff, I've just been using Google Earth for road names and such. St. David's Hotel does exist and it's just a little ways down the bay from the Millenium Center. Things may not be completely accurate about distance and stuff but I did my best. Also, I'm sorry that Alethea was so dramatic. She's not really the person who'd jump off a building, she'd probably just jump in from the shore, but I needed someone to scream. And I don't know if I should be explaining this or not, but I was getting frustrated with that scene and wanted to explain lol. **

**Please review :)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hello everyone! Sorry for the delay in the update, school has been beyond hectic. In the last 2 weeks I've done 4 English assignments totaling about 15 percent (what does this site have against percent signs?) of my final mark. Anyways, I'm hoping that the updates will return to at least once a week unless they pile more work on. Thanks for being patient and waiting! Thank you to kateg123 and GossipGirl17 for the reviews, and thanks to everyone else who is reading. I hope you continue to enjoy it. **

**Disclaimer: Please see chapter 1.**

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**Chapter 7**

"Ianto, heat up some tea and put a bit of honey in it. Tosh grab some blankets from the storage and bring them back up here pronto," Owen called out instructions to the rest of the Torchwood team. He had originally been happy that the threat against his wellbeing was out of the way, but with Jack's look he had changed his mind and gotten to work. "Gwen do you have any extra clothes lying around here?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked quickly, offended at what she thought Owen was assuming.

The Torchwood doctor looked up and rolled his eyes at her, "It means do you have extra clothes lying around? Jesus, I wasn't insinuating anything but I'm not going to strip her naked and she can't stay in these soaked clothes." His eyebrows knit together in frustration, "Jack, stop pacing like a lost puppy and go get some extra clothes, now!" No one was more surprised than Owen when Jack rushed off, listening to the orders. He and Gwen shrugged at each other before Owen checked the readings on the monitor.

Tosh returned with a few ratty, but warm looking blankets and Jack was not far behind her, holding a pair of track pants and a t-shirt that the team had never seen him in before. With the clothes and blankets hanging on the railing Owen turned to the unconscious girl and started pulling the soaked t-shirt upwards. "Hey! What are you doing?"

Owen met Jack's enraged eyes with sarcasm, "What do you _think_ I'm doing? She can't stay in these clothes and expect to live."

"I doubt she'd appreciate waking up to find out you stripped her naked without her knowing it. You get out of here, I'll do it," Jack said as he took a few steps down into the medical bay.

"Yeah, I'm sure she'd appreciate it being you much more," the doctor crossed his arms, standing in front of the medical table.

"Of course she would. No one would mind waking up to find that I had stripped them naked," Jack gave the other man a cocky grin.

Owen's face contorted in horror and disgust, "I would!" he yelled in a panicky voice, unnerved by the thoughts in his head.

"Alright boys, we don't want our patient to die now do we? You both get out of here and Gwen and I will change her clothes," Tosh walked down to the table past the two grown men and nudged them away. Once they were out of view Tosh began to peel the frigid cloth from the girl's pale skin. She looked up at Gwen expectantly.

Her only response was a, "Why would I help someone who has caused so much trouble?" before she walked off in the direction Jack had disappeared to. Tosh shook her head sadly before hurrying her process, noting the blue tinge in the girl's slightly parted lips. She grimaced, wishing that there was someone else to help her but eventually she managed, Owen appearing at her side when she was done and wrapping his arms around the girl's chilled body.

Tosh raised an eyebrow at him, attempting to hide her jealousy over the embrace. However Owen didn't seem as interested in the girl he was hugging as Tosh, "It's to warm up her major organs and heart before the rest of her body. If we don't do that all the blood will rush back to her heart at once when she thaws and beeeeeeep," he imitated the 'no pulse' sound of the monitor.

Further in the Hub Gwen had found Jack flipping through CCTV files on the computer. She pulled up a chair beside him, and after he didn't say anything right away she cleared her throat, "Jack, I wanted to talk to you about…before," she began awkwardly.

"Hm?" He glanced at her briefly before returning to the screens, waiting for her to continue.

"About the kiss…" she prompted, not wanting to be the first to talk about it. She wasn't even sure what she wanted to say really. She knew she was falling for her boss despite her boyfriend waiting diligently at home for her without fail. Rhys was definitely more reliable than Jack, but the idea of being with Jack sent warm shivers through her. Still, she knew she had reacted quickly with the kiss and part of her thought she should apologize, while another part of her simply wanted to pull his lips to her's once more.

She was broken out of her dizzying thought process by a strong hand on her shoulder and Jack's blue eyes searching her's. It was as if he could follow her thoughts and understood all of her misgivings and questions. "Just make sure you know what you want before you do any more kissing," he suggested calmly, his tone not as light as she would've expected from a man who fooled around with anything alive.

She nodded her head but jumped as the alarm sounded once more. No rest for them this week it seemed. Jack rose to gather the others while Gwen took over the seat he had occupied seconds before to pull up a map of Cardiff while trying to calm her rapidly beating heart. "Something big coming up on the map in the fields north of Cardiff," she yelled to the Hub in general.

Owen looked up from his position only to make eye contact with a very peeved looking Captain, "Hey man! It was either this or have her die in the glory of a very brutal heart attack. You should be _thanking_ me!"

Just then Ianto returned with a steaming teapot, which was set on one of the random counters. "Owen, get off her and get in the SUV. Same with you Tosh, if this is big we'll need everyone there. I'll grab the weaponry, and Ianto," the Welshman looked at him expectantly, "I'm sorry. I wish you could come too but can you stay with Alethea?" Hiding his disappointment, the butler nodded his head, plastering on a well practiced smile. "Right, everyone move out!"

There were a few moments of frenzied movement as everyone grabbed their equipment and headed for the SUV grudgingly. No one really wanted to get back in the vehicle since it hadn't been properly cleaned after they had brought back the dead weevils. Nonetheless, everyone piled inside with minimal complaints (minus Owen). The engine flared to life and they were off.

Silence penetrated the Hub again, pressing in on Ianto as he turned off the alarm and surveyed his lonely home. He didn't complain about being left behind, he was thankful enough to be part of the team at all, but he wished to be given more opportunities to do field work with the others. He was sure the others thought him incapable of handling himself outside of the Hub, which rubbed on Ianto's nerves; he was more than adequate. Still, there was nothing to do about it so he returned to the girl on the table whose lips and lost some of their blue tint.

He moved the blankets over by the couch and, without much trouble, carried the strange alien girl over and onto the frayed fabric. Positioning himself at the end of the couch so Alethea could lie flat but lean against him, he threw the blankets across her body, being sure that all skin was covered. After wrapping his arms around her to continue Owen's treatment of warming her heart first he dazed off into thought again.

After some reminiscing he was brought back to the present as the girl shifted against him. How odd it was, he thought, that he had his arms wrapped around some strange alien girl. At first he felt uncomfortable and thought of moving away, but then a strong protective instinct washed over him. Though all he knew about her was that she was _not_ a deer, he rolled his eyes at the ridiculous memory, he felt the need to protect her just as he did the other members of Torchwood.

"God am I…_still_ not dead?" she said in exasperation, words slow and slurred as her body slowly thawed. Her eyes slowly opened to look at him with a half focused view. The crystal blue seemed frozen, radiating sadness and regret.

"Despite your very dramatic leap from St. David's Hotel you are still very much alive," Ianto confirmed with a touch of sarcasm and humor in his words. Alethea grunted in response. There was silence again for a while as the girl's body and mind warmed up, but until she was back to normal her thought process and motor skills would be sluggish and limited. Ianto felt as if he were taking care of a sister at the end of a long illness and decided he didn't mind.

"Aren't you…supposed…to kill alien…threats?" was the muttered question from under the blankets.

"Are you an alien threat?" he asked in a serious tone.

She thought about it for a moment. "Yes," she finally said with conviction. Both lapsed into a troubled silence as neither of them had anything more to say. It was quite a while before Alethea spoke again; her senses now returning and sharpening, "Where are the others?"

"Something big came through the Rift to the north of the city so they went out to investigate it and bring it down if necessary," Ianto explained.

She shifted to look up at him properly, her ability to move returning to the various limbs of her body, "And why didn't they…take you along?"

"Someone had to take care of you. Wouldn't want you freezing now would we? Besides, I don't mind," Ianto shrugged his shoulders. He had been telling himself this for so long it almost felt like the truth.

"Of course you care, Ianto," she proclaimed for him with a solemn voice when he refused to acknowledge it himself. Feeling rather uncomfortable he cleared his throat and pushed himself off the couch, away from the alien girl who was looking at him expectantly.

Flustered, he turned and picked up the tea pot which now held chilled tea, "I'll just go make you a warm batch," he suggested to himself before striding away to another section of the Hub to make his temporary escape. When he was out of sight Alethea wrapped one of the blankets around her shoulders and stood up. As she took her first step towards the computers she nearly tripped and fell flat on her face.

Thoughts still fogged, she looked down blearily and noted that she was wearing track pants and a t-shirt that were too big for her and smelt strongly of a certain Captain. Her eyes closed for a brief moment as she breathed deeply, enjoying the man's 51st century pheromones, unique to a place like Earth. She allowed them to swirl around her and fill her head but began making her way over to the computers once more. Though her movements were stiff, they were improving with every step she took as the blood flowed more freely. Stretching her legs as she stood in front of the screens, Alethea called up the map of Cardiff, noting the alarmingly large red dot of the alien and also the blue dot of what she assumed was the Torchwood SUV. Fear gripped her as the two dots neared each other.

She tried to rationalize her thoughts out and talk herself out of her worry. These people had been catching and containing aliens for years, Jack for much longer. They were professional and knew what they were doing; she shouldn't be worried thinking that they needed her. Why would they need her? Torchwood Three had been doing well before she came along, as if she would change anything. Her hands gripped the desk tightly as she made up her mind.

Just then Ianto came back towards her, apparently back under control. She glanced towards the door and lift but the butler was blocking both unknowingly. Groaning, she dropped the blanket and made a dash for the other direction. Ianto let out a cry and ran after her through the Hub as she ran around the corner and out of sight behind the wall of the medical bay. Rushing into the oval room he looked around but though she had only been out of his sight, blocked by the brick wall, for a few seconds, she was gone.

--

The Torchwood SUV streaked through the burning streets towards the northern part of Cardiff. The trees and houses burned beside the street and dead bodies were thrown haphazardly around. Anyone still alive was out of sight or fled to another part of the town. Jack no longer needed Tosh's tracker; the giant paw prints in the concrete were enough of a lead, though he wasn't pleased with taking his team towards whatever had made them.

There was smoke rising from the north of town and Tosh had decided that the creature was weaving along the edge of Cardiff, in and out of the city heading west. They had to get to it before it headed back into town again. As he drove the vehicle up the street that was on a hill they finally saw what was trampling through their city. Gwen and Tosh both gasped before covering their mouths in shock. "Shit…Oh shit! Oh shit!" Owen muttered quickly under his breath while Jack was struck dumb. What the hell was this thing?

He had never seen or heard of an alien like this before in all his travels and the only thing he could compare it to was the ancient texts he read about the guardian of the gates of Hell; Cerberus. Of course the fabled hell hound did not exist, but if it did Jack would bet that this is what it would look like. Here, on the edge of Cardiff was a three headed dog, nearly thirty feet high and towering over many buildings of Cardiff. Its fur seemed to be made of black flames curling and licking around a skeleton of bones. As it took thundering steps through the fields, stalking the fringes of the city, fire flowed into the ground, burned the grass, and cracked the concrete. "Forget it! Let Cardiff burn!" Owen shrieked.

"That's not our job," Jack said firmly as he swerved towards the massive dog, ignoring his survival instincts yelling that he was leading his team to their deaths. As they drove nearer, Jack called out instructions for their offense. "Objective one: stay alive. Objective two: get the creature knocked out if possible. Objective three: please try to stay alive?"

"You say that like I want to die!" Owen spat out. Only Tosh's hand over his mouth shut him up long enough for Jack to continue laying out his plan. Everyone gripped onto various parts of the SUV as Jack maneuvered it between the creature's legs, spread apart because of its sheer size. The heat in the car rose significantly and finally they drove under the creature's head.

Gwen twisted in her seat to look back and was met with multiple rows of teeth longer than her body and six eyes blazing red. She let out a squeak of pure terror, feeling her blood run cold, "Faster Jack! Drive faster!" she whispered in horror as they heard the hound howl to the sky. There was something about the howl that felt ancient, evil…and hungry.

With Jack flooring it they had made some distance but with the dog being so large it didn't take many leaps and bounds for it to catch up and swipe at the SUV. The paw barely hit the car but the contact was enough to send it rolling out of control, the metal sides and rubber wheels melting slightly out of shape. After a few rolls the vehicle came to a rest in the burned grass and everyone piled out, Jack grabbing the weapons from the trunk before they abandoned the SUV, worried that the flames would wind into the engine.

The hound bound around the fields, circling them like a play toy it was determined to enjoy before moving on. Jack took stock of their situation; everyone had already taken a beating from the car crash and their weapons were no match for this creature. All in all, a normal Torchwood work day. Finally growing bored with circling, the Cerberus-like creature skidded to a halt, crushing a farmhouse in the process. This set fire to the other buildings attached, filling the sky with more rancid smoke.

It had stopped with its back to a small forest, which promptly caught fire in the dry wind. The creature gave another primal howl, followed by a low growl that sounded more like the thunder preceding a deadly storm. "Ready…aim…" Jack screamed to the others as he hoisted his own weapon onto his shoulder. The others did likewise, bravely ignoring their wounds and the blood on their hands, making their grip on the metal slip. Jack had never been prouder to be apart of Torchwood than he was in this moment, but he wished they could continue on, 'Please don't let this be the end'. "Fire!"

Various weapons went off simultaneously that they had salvaged from their alien encounters and everything hit the dog dead on. It was forced backwards onto its hind legs and nearly collapsed backwards, but it regained its balance. The two forward paws landed on the ground once more, sending a shockwave through the earth that would undoubtedly be recorded as an earthquake. The hound let out a ferocious roar in anger, eyes set aflame, and it rushed them.

Three bounds and it had covered half the distance when suddenly the dog collapsed on itself and hit the ground. They heard ominous cracking of bones breaking with all the weight falling on the bent legs and the three heads were rammed into the ground by gravity. The Torchwood team was thrown to the ground by the second shockwave. Flames spiraled outwards through the remaining grass as the dog came to a rest, the burning fires of the eyes extinguished.

The body and flames began to melt into the ground right in front of their eyes and nobody could move, they were in such a state of shock. Jack watched until all evidence of the dog was gone, except for the massive destruction surrounding them, before turning to his team. Gwen was crying and Tosh had a blank look on her face, not currently in the present. Jack actually had to check and see if Owen was breathing; he was frozen like a statue but at contact he shot into action. He jumped to his feet from his kneeling position and turned to bolt but tripped over himself and fell back to the ground.

The Captain looked back to where the hell hound creature had disappeared and noticed some metal reflecting the blazing sun in the sky. He figured that the others would be alright for a moment and went over to investigate, making sure to avoid the burning strings of grass in the fields. As he neared the object he saw that it was a sword resting in the grass, slightly singed but otherwise in tact. Though he expected it to be burning hot, it was cool to his touch and he picked it up in one hand.

From what he knew of swords, which wasn't much, it appeared to be a long sword or a bastard sword design and was about three and a half feet long including the hilt. The blue jewel in the hilt brought his memory flying back to the daggers lying in the Hub. The sword blade seemed to be made of the same hard material, and when he brushed the soot away from the blade he could make out the same engraved words, '_Veritas lateo com contro_'. When he raised his eyes from the sword he caught a glimpse of someone running under the trees that had not caught fire. Deciding that he wouldn't be able to make up the distance and catch up to them, he headed back to his team and got them on their feet, the sword trailing behind him in his grasp, cutting a line in the ground. The team had a lot of work and clean up to do and it would be easier on them all the sooner he got them out of their stupor. He called a tow truck and taxi, not about to lose the valuable equipment in the SUV or make the others walk home like this. They settled down for a long wait as sirens and chaos took over northern Cardiff.

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**Hope that was worth the wait. Please review if you have a few seconds to spare. Any questions or comments please let me know. New update Sunday perhaps? --Fingers crossed--**


	8. Chapter 8

**Thanks to kateg123 for the review :) Did all my other reviewers stop liking the story or something? Oh well. To those who are still reading, I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

**Disclaimer: Please see chapter 1.**

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**Chapter 8**

After Owen's initial freak out, he was the first to calm down after the alien's attack. Therefore Jack sent him to go with the tow truck and the ruined SUV when help had arrived. Luckily Jack had been able to pull a few strings to get the tow truck here sooner, but they were still waiting for their ride back to the Hub a few hours after sunset.

He sat between the two women with an arm around each to share his body heat with them and to help calm them down. He needed to remember to get his greatcoat back when they made it back to the Hub; this had been the longest he had ever gone without it, and with the biting wind of the night coiling around them it would have come in handy right now.

Jack was worried for the women, for neither of them had spoken after the alien had melted into the ground, leaving destruction behind as the only indication that it had ever been there. Gwen had stopped crying but was now trembling against him, and Tosh was as still as stone. He thought his computer genius was probably asleep but he saw Gwen's glassy eyes reflecting the waning moonlight.

These reactions weren't normal for either of them or for Owen either now that he thought about it. They had all faced numerous life-or-death situations, it came with the job, and they had all held themselves together. Granted, some situations affected some people more than others based on their relationship to it, but never had he seen something so startlingly out of character. He ran his fingers through Gwen's hair absentmindedly. What they needed was to get home and to bed, but that wasn't going to happen until they got picked up. Jack had a feeling that a cab wasn't going to be around anytime soon, and he couldn't make Tosh and Gwen walk all across the disarrayed Cardiff.

Luckily he didn't have to wait much longer as a sleek black car drove up the field slowly towards them, head beams glaring in Jack's eyes. Owen proceeded to step out of the driver's seat, muttering an apology, "Sorry we didn't come sooner. Thought a cab was coming and stuff happened at the Hub…" his voice had a dead quality to it, which Jack knew would only go away with a good week's sleep.

"It's alright, just help me get them into the car," he said before standing up, pulling Gwen up in his arms with him and moving her to the passenger seat. He then helped Owen get Tosh up and into the back seat. "I'll drive, you get in the back." The doctor nodded his head tiredly before slipping in beside Tosh, not moving away when she leaned against him. Jack observed his team for a moment; Owen and Tosh had already fallen back into sleep, leaning against each other, and Gwen was still staring glass-eyed out the window. He was pretty sure even he would sleep tonight.

The ride back to the Hub was long and frustrating; the streets were crowded and some streets were damaged to the extent that they were not drivable. This led to a trip much longer in length than it would've normally been. Nonetheless, the car, which he assumed was Owen's, was finally pulled into the garage and the engine turned off. Jack decided what to do next; he supposed he should drive them all home since none of them were in any state to get themselves home.

He pulled out his cell phone and dialed Ianto's number. When the man picked up on the other end, his voice sounded peculiar, but Jack couldn't figure out what emotion wove between the beautiful Welsh vowels. Fear? Pain? Regret? "Ianto, the others are down for the count so I'm going to take them home, do you need a lift?"

"I need you to come down here, J-Jack," he spoke quietly but urgently.

Immediately concerned, he remembered that Owen had mentioned something happening at the Hub, "What's going on? Are you alright?"

"N-no I'm fine…drop off the others, t-then come back," the man sounded lost.

"You sure you'll be alright until I get back?"

"Yes."

"Alright," Jack hung up and brought the engine back to life. He was thankful that his team members lived relatively close to Hub, the area also filled with less chaos as it was further south than where the destruction had happened. It didn't take long for him to drive everyone home and deposit them in their respective beds. He had to leave Gwen on the couch though as to not risk waking Rhys and having to deal with a fight. Finally he was walking through the familiarly dark corridors to the elevator into the Hub.

He pulled his gun, not entirely sure what to expect, and held the sword in his other hand as the cog door rolled away to the side. Sweeping the large room quickly, he didn't pick up on anything out of place. Despite the normalcy of the room, Ianto was in a state of disarray as he rushed up to Jack; his suit messed, his tie missing. Jack placed the sword down and rested his hands strongly on the other man's broad shoulders to get him to stop fidgeting, "What happened?"

"W-well after you left I got Alethea on the couch to warm her under the blankets and she woke up, she was very…annoyed that she was still alive and said she was an a threat to us. Not sure what to say, I went to go make tea, but when I came back I saw her at the computers. As I came towards her she dashed towards the medical bay. I-I swear she was only blocked from my sight by the wall for a few seconds but when I got there she was gone," Ianto glowered at the ground in confusion.

"Obviously I searched everywhere but she was nowhere to be found. I went to the computers to check the interior CCTV but the files of the medical bay at that time were nothing but static. As if that wasn't bad enough," he breathed deeply, as if steeling himself for the rest of the story, "I turn around and this guy is standing behind me."

Ianto proceeded to describe the man to Jack; he had hovered over Ianto, looking down on him through pale blond hair that hung in his eyes that held no colour. He had been wearing heavy black boots and matching black jeans, with a white shirt underneath a long cape. And despite his lean frame, he stood with a threatening stance, fingers twitching towards the two swords sheathed on his waist.

"No alarms going off, nothing on the CCTV, nothing; he was just there, looking to be offhandedly pissed. Demanded the whereabouts of Alethea in an accent I couldn't place. I said that I didn't know who he meant and before I could blink h-he had the point of one of his swords at my neck. He asked me again, 'Where is she?'" Jack was about to interrupt but Ianto was lost in the memory. "'I know she's been here recently so why don't you just save me some time. Normally I wouldn't mind playing with you,' he ran his tongue along his teeth as he looked at me, 'but I'm in a bit of a rush.'"

"I asked him who he was but that just resulted in the steel point being pushed against my neck with more pressure," Jack saw him subconsciously touch his neck hesitantly. "'No need to worry about who I am,' he smiled at me, 'you won't see me again if I find what I want. Now _where_ _is she_?' I told him she had escaped the cells early this morning and we had lost traces of her. I worried he wouldn't believe me but he dropped his sword point, smiled and disappeared right in front of me."

"What do you mean, 'disappeared'?" Jack finally remembered to remove his hands from the other man's shoulders.

"He actually disappeared. One moment he was there and the next he…wasn't," Ianto shrugged helplessly.

"Interesting, so we're dealing with a sword wielding teleporter who's on an intense search for Alethea…I don't think I'll be getting any sleep tonight after all. Did Owen fill you in on what happened in the fields?" Jack asked as he picked up the sword once more and made his way to the couch, which still had blankets strewn around it.

"Yeah he did, though he was a bit sparse on the details," Ianto joined Jack on the couch, "Where's that from?"

The captain turned the sword around in his hand, the blade catching the light and reflecting it, "That's what I want to know. But I think whoever this belongs to was the one who killed that monster. If only I could figure out what the engravings said, my ability to read languages is fading," he decided not to go into detail about the powers the TARDIS gave to its occupants.

"Let's see it," Ianto said. Jack handed it over wearily, eyes half closed. He heard the Torchwood Tea boy, who had turned into much more in his time here, mutter to himself as he looked at the engravings. Just when he was sure he would get to sleep for the first time in months, Ianto began talking to him and he forced his attention to the other man, "I don't remember much of the language but I'm nearly positive this is Latin, or some modified version of it."

His attention snapped back into place, "You can read it?"

"No. All I know is that the first word is 'Truth'. We can probably get Tosh to translate it tomorrow though since she's been working on a language translator the last couple of months," Ianto suggested.

Jack shook his head, "I'm hoping everyone will sleep for a day or so. At the very least I don't expect them in tomorrow morning."

"Then I could bring in my Latin-English books tomorrow morning," the Welshman offered.

"You should get extra sleep tonight as well," pale blue eyes glared sternly at the younger man. "Speaking of which, you should head home now. It's been beyond a long day and I want you in top form incase that guy comes back or any other disasters befall us." He plucked the sword back into his hands, finalizing the decision. "Unless of course, you'd like to spend the night here," Jack smirked.

Ianto chuckled nervously, "Have a good night," was all he said before moving to collect his things and moving towards the exit. Jack waved goodbye when the other man looked back briefly at the cog door and lounged on the couch long after the Hub had grown silent in its emptiness. Sleep tugged at his mind and body, but even after lying down on the couch he could not leave to the dream world.

He worried about all the new Rift activity, especially that weird creature that had nearly finished off the Torchwood team in the fields north of Cardiff. His thoughts wandered around those memories for a while, trying to puzzle out what type of creature it was and who could've possibly killed it with the sword that now rested at his feet. The strange teleporting man who had come into his home and threatened one of his closest friends also snagged at Jack's mind, making him slightly wary of the Hub; so many corners to pop up and hide in.

He pulled out his gun and set it on his stomach before falling back into thought. He was curious and, though he disliked admitting it, worried about where Alethea had gone. Jack was frustrated that she had disappeared again, for all he knew she could be at the bottom of the bay now, but that thought along with the strange man searching for her overrode his frustrations. There were so many questions she had left before he could ask and Jack wondered if he'd ever get another chance to ask them.

The captain shifted slightly onto his side and made a sweep of the Hub with his careful eyes. When he was assured that he was still the only living being in the Hub he closed his eyes as he continued to examine his busy thoughts. Today when the fought the Cerberus-like creature the others had stood by him, even after the various weapons had failed against the hound. Wondering whether they felt the same way he had when he faced the Daleks on Satellite 5 that day that changed everything. He was so full of life and yet he felt dead, absent of life. Of course he would've died wit the others in the fields, but unlike them he would have woken up, picked himself up and forced himself to continue on.

Those thoughts were pushed aside as exhaustion wrapped snuggly around his mind, slowing his mind and senses. He knew he should stay awake incase the teleporter returned, or incase any other apocalypses fell onto Cardiff, but his eyes refused to stay open. Unable to deny his first sleep in months, Jack gave in and slipped into his dream world filled with monsters, friends, swords and truthful blue eyes.

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**First I'd like to apologize for any mistakes that might be in there. I'll be honest, I didn't edit this before posting. I figured I'd get it up here and then go back and edit it tomorrow night when I actually have some time. Also I know this wasn't the most action packed or longest chapter ever, but I wanted to do a little wrapping up of the monster and Jack's thoughts. Anyways, thanks for reading, review if you wish. **


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